Chuck vs the Future
by tv1234
Summary: This story starts when Sarah leaves castle at the end of the series finale. It is the ending more from Sarah's point of view. Will Chuck and Sarah be able to find each other again and will they be able to do it before true evil emerges from the shadows.
1. Chapter 1

As Sarah walked out of Castle for the last time she was a whirlwind of emotion. Who am I, what am I, and so many more thoughts ran through her mind. Why couldn't he have said something? Just one thing to make me stop, to make me want to stay. As she walked to her car all these thoughts and emotions continued to run through her mind. There was only one thing that no matter which thought she was stuck on, or what action she considered next that continually came to the fore front and that was Chuck. If she was being honest with herself he had not left her thoughts much at all since all of this began. When she walked in to his apartment thinking that this was all an op she knew there was something more there. She knew in the intersect room when she couldn't pull the trigger. In the dream house when she saw the carving. Hell she even knew it in the courtyard at Echo Park when she left. There was something there with him. A connection that she just couldn't quite put her finger on. She could even start to admit to herself that she had lied that night in the courtyard. She did feel something it was faint, but there was definitely something there. That is what scared her the most. Sarah Walker doesn't fall in love, she doesn't set roots, but everything inside of her was screaming to run to him, wrap him in her embrace, and figure all of this out together. She couldn't do that she wasn't ready for what that would bring or what that would mean. As she started her car she took a deep breath and headed out to find herself.

She arrived at her hotel room. Sarah began pacing through the room debating what to do next. She could run, but where would that get her. She would be alone again, and this time with nothing. No CIA, no mission, nowhere to hide. It would be just her stuck with all these thoughts and emotions running through her head. She could stay, but then she would be forced to face everything that had happened, and that was almost scarier than the idea of being alone. As she continued to pace back and forth through the room she decided maybe she should get a bite to eat and find somewhere to clear her head.

After a quick bite to eat she found herself driving her Porsche all around Burbank. She didn't know what to think or do at this point. The next thing she knew she was at the beach. Something had drawn her here. She didn't know why but she felt like this place was familiar, safe, and peaceful. She walked up the beach and took a seat. Just staring out into the horizon watching the ocean move. This powerful thing in front of here seemed to have a calming effect on her. This calm allowed her mind to wander over the last couple of weeks. She reminisced on everything that had happened since Quinn had sent her on her op. The emotions she had been fighting since this roller coaster had begun. Her gut had told her from the very beginning that something was wrong, but for some reason she ignored it. She knew she wasn't the same person she was when she started at the CIA. She was no longer Gramm's wildcard enforcer. Something had changed she wasn't sure what it was, but she knew she was different. That Sarah would be long gone by now. She would have been buried in her next mission. She didn't want that. She wanted something more. She had never told anyone, but since she was a little girl on her first con with her dad she wanted more. Sarah had always wanted a normal life so to speak, whatever that means. She had longed for it for as long as she could remember. Was she really so close to having it here in Burbank? Had it really all been taken from her by Nicolas Quinn? The thought of that name shot anger through her heart. How could one man cause so much damage and destruction?

With all these thoughts running through her mind she lost track of time and space. It wasn't until she saw Chuck next to her that she realized that the outside world was still moving. As Chuck sat next to her she couldn't help but get lost in the moment. Here was this man that had been running through her mind almost nonstop. He had found her and was sitting across from her with a look of hope and desperation. "I was hoping you'd be here." Chuck said. Sarah heard these words and her thoughts of when she arrived at this spot flooded back. "This place is important isn't it." she replied. The little smirk on his face confirmed her suspicions about the location. "Ya Ya very much . This is where you told me I was going to be ok. That I could trust you, and that's exactly what I'm doing now. I am asking you to trust me. Sarah I don't want anything from you. I just need you to know that where ever you go I will always be there to help you. Someone you can call whenever. Trust me Sarah I am here for you always." As Chuck finished talking Sarah reflected on everything he as just said, and in this moment she made a decision to see what this was all about. To try to get an understanding of what force seemed to be pulling these two people together. "Chuck….Tell me our story." As she said these words she saw a smile come across Chuck's face she had fought hearing anything about them, and now on this beach she was finally ready. "Ya Ya. Were to begin. It starts with this guy who worked at a buy more. Then one day an old college friend of his sent him an e-mail that was filled with secrets. Then the next day his life really changed when he met a spy named Sarah and he fell in love." As Chuck said these last words something washed over her. She couldn't fight the tears back anymore as one slid down her cheek. Here sitting right next to her was a man that loved her for her and would do anything for her. He had shown her that much over the last weeks. Fighting for her, jumping in front of a bullet for her, and even letting her go.

As Chuck told her their story she couldn't help but catch herself laughing, crying, and just enjoying every moment of this time. All the parts of the story seemed so crazy, and so unlike anything she would do. She recalled her video log that Casey had shown her and it all seemed to line up with the emotions she showed in the video. The uncertainty she had felt, and the turmoil it had put both of them through. As Chuck neared the end of their story she knew she had a decision to make. She had to decide to run or to fight. Honestly it wasn't much of a decision. She was tired of running, constantly looking over her shoulder, and wondering where life would take her. If she was going to be truly honest with herself this man had broken down her walls for a second time. She knew what they had was real, and that now more than ever she felt it. She wanted to tell him to just blurt the words out that were running through her head, but she couldn't not yet. It scared her for someone to have so much power over her as Chuck did. She had never felt this way about any one. Not even Bryce. Relationships that she remembered were always ones of convenience, or ones for the job. What she felt for Chuck was different it was strong and most of all it was real. As they sat there looking out at the ocean she just wanted a way to show Chuck she wasn't going to run that she wanted to figure this out together. Than in typical Chuck fashion he gave her exactly what she needed. "You know Morgan has this crazy idea." he said. "What is it?" Sarah replied. "He thinks that with one kiss you will remember everything." Sarah looked out at the ocean upon hearing this and she knew exactly what to do. "One magical kiss." she said. "Ya Ya I know it's" Sarah interrupted Chuck. "Chuck…. Kiss me." With those three words her heart was able to tell Chuck what her brain wasn't ready to say. As he began to kiss her she knew that no matter if this kiss was magic or not she was finally where she belonged.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors notes: Decided to continue this story. Look forward to all your reviews. Thank you so much to those who reviewed my first chapter and my first fanfiction ever. I don't own Chuck.

Chuck and Sarah stayed locked into each other for what seemed like an eternity. Neither one wanted this moment to end, to have to face the reality of the long road ahead of both of them. As they broke their kiss they sat with their foreheads touching neither one wanting to open their eyes. Finally breaking the silence Chuck said, "So not so magic huh." Sarah laughed, "I wouldn't say it wasn't magical just not memory magical." They slowly separated and stared off into the sunset. Sarah knew she had a job to do. She had to reassure Chuck that she was in this for the long haul. That running was no longer an option. That finding her would be impossible without him by her side. With a slight sigh Sarah spoke, "Chuck, I know things have been crazy over the last weeks, and I wish more than anything that the kiss would have brought it all flooding back, but we both know Disney princess stories aren't real life. I want you to know that I am not going anywhere. With you I feel whole. I am starting to feel things again, and I know I want you here to help me todiscover all of them. But I need to take things slow." As Sarah said these last words a since of déjà vu ran over her, and then like a wave crashing into the shore a memory hit her. She could see her and Chuck in castle talking about taking it slow. Talking about tooth brushes and using the bathroom. Then Chuck got down on one knee and proposed, or did he. Something told her that wasn't his intention at the time. Just as sudden and the memory flooded over her it was over. She sat in a daze only to by shocked back into the moment by Chuck's voice. "Sarah. Earth to Sarah. You there? "Sarah looked over at Chuck and couldn't help by feel a cascade of emotion running over her. Yes it was small memory, but it was something a starting point on the road to recovery. "Chuck, did we have the taking it slow conversation before?" Chuck just smiled with the realization that a she had just remembered something. "Yes…Yes we have. It was down in castle. What do you remember?" Sarah told Chuck what she remembered about Devin's comments from the night before all the way up to the awkward proposal in Castle. Chuck helped to fill in some of the small blanks, but Sarah recalled almost everything from the night.

When they finished talking and watching the last little bit of sunshine fall beyond the horizon they both stood holding each other's hands not sure of what to do next. "So we can go home and get something to eat if you would like." Chuck said while staring out at the ocean. Sarah could since his nerves and angst. "That sounds like a good idea." Chuck took these words and turned them into his trademark Bartowski smile. Seeing this couldn't help but make Sarah smile as well. They started towards the parking lot hand in hand. Both excited and scared about how this journey would go and where it would lead. They both just knew that they had to do it together.

"Where is your car Chuck?" Sarah asked. "Well I am kind of in between rides right now. We sold the buy more, so no more nerd herder. Guess I am in the market." Sarah just looked over at her car and said "guess I could give you a ride" giving him a little nudge with her elbow. Chuck laughed, "Something's never change." They got in the lotus and took off. During the drive Chuck started cataloging everything that Sarah had remembered so far. He was making a mental list so that he could keep track of her progress and keep Elle abreast of the information. As the approached the apartment Chuck started to worry that maybe going to their home was pushing the envelope too much for one night. "Sarah if you are not ready to go the house that is fine. I understand. I don't want to push you or force you into something you aren't ready for. We can have dinner out, and then go from there." Sarah thought about what Chuck said, but something about Echo Park felt like home, and she wanted to see what it was all about. "No it's fine Chuck. I think it is a good idea. I felt familiarity there even when I thought I was on an op for Quinn. I feel like it is a good place to start." Chuck nodded in agreement and opened his door running to the other side to open Sarah's door for her. They left the car grasping hands with intertwined fingers walking home for the first time in what seemed like forever.

Morgan was staring out the window the entire night. Since he had given Chuck his pep talk all he could do was wait. He wanted so badly for his best friend to be happy, and he knew Sarah was the key to that. While watching in the window he reflected back on their lives from five years ago. They both were completely different people back then, and now here they were all grown up. Heck they had saved the day multiple times. Who would have thought that was possible. As Morgan saw Chuck and Sarah walking up hand in hand an ecstatic look crept upon his face. He started to rush to the door, but then thought better of it. Sarah and Chuck deserved each other and tonight they deserved to be alone. He turned around and yelled to Alex in their apartment, "Alex I think everything is going to be ok you will never guess who just walked in together." He said as he went running to find her.

As Chuck reached for the door he could feel a slight hesitation coming from Sarah. He turned to face her and she was just standing there. "Penny for your thoughts." He said. "I was just thinking about the last time I was here in this court yard. I caused you so much pain Chuck. If I am being honest with you I felt something that day. I didn't know what it was, but I did feel something. It scared me, and so I did what I do best. I buried those feelings and jumped into my next mission." Chuck stood and listened recalling that night in the court yard and the heartbreak it caused. He could see the hurt in Sarah's eyes, and he wanted nothing more to take her pain away. "Sarah I can only imagine what you were going through. You just found out everything you had been told was a lie, and that the last five years of your life had been erased. You did what you thought was best for you, and I understand that. I won't lie to you and say it didn't hurt, but I understand. None of it matters now because you are here, and together we are going to get through this." Sarah listened to Chuck and took in every word. She knew some of it was just a front to help her feel better, but she appreciated it. He cared so much for her that he would endure pain just to help her. "I say we go in and eat Chuck. I am starving." With those words another milestone was reached. For the first time since all of this had happened they were home together.

They walked in the apartment and Chuck immediately headed towards the kitchen. "We don't have much, but I think there are a few things in the refrigerator that I can warm up." He shouted. "That sounds great." Sarah replied from the living room. She was slowly taking in her surroundings. Her spy training was kicking in and she was observing every inch of the place. She saw touches that were definitely from her and some that were obviously from him. With the combination of the two and the items that reflected both of them she could see why she felt at home here. She continued to slowly walk throughout the room taking it all in. Hoping something might spark another memory. She could hear Chuck working away in the kitchen and it made her laugh. He was spiraling a little bit. It was one of the traits she loved about Chuck. It showed just how much he cared that he would worry about the smallest detail. "Don't do anything to fancy Chuck. " Sarah yelled over all the commotion in the kitchen. As she walked past the kitchen catching a small glimpse of her nerd at work she saw their bedroom door. She slowly approached it and ran her hand along the wood. Memories had happened in this place, and if she had to guess pretty important ones. She knew that they had probably happened everywhere in the apartment, but the bedroom just represented so much. She quietly pushed the door open and peaked through the small crack that she had created. She saw pictures of them, comic books, posters, and so many other things that she couldn't remember. She had been here not too long ago, but that was all part of the lie. She didn't take the time to take it all in then, and now she was. As she gathered the strength to open the door the rest of the way and venture into the room she couldn't help but fell something in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't quite place it, but she knew the only way to figure it out was to push on. She walked through the room taking in the aromas, the views, and the overall feel of everything. She went through her drawers and saw all the usual items. She opened their closet and again saw nothing that surprised her. She sat on the end of the bed just looking at everything and taking in the moment. She heard Chuck approaching. "Hey Sarah where did you run off to?" "In here Chuck." She replied.

Chuck approached the bedroom. He saw a beautiful angel sitting on his bed and it took his breath away. His Sarah was sitting in their room again and nothing could have made him happier. "Dinners almost ready." Chuck slowly sat down next to Sarah trying to keep a little distance between them. He didn't want to push. "I was just giving myself the tour." Sarah stated. That sat in silence for a few moments. "Sarah I know you have been through so much, and I want you to know that I meant what I said on the beach. I don't want anything from you. I just want you to be happy. "Sarah was thinking about so many things. "I know Chuck and I appreciate that more than you know. I haven't had many people in my life that actually put me first. Who actually cares about what I think or feel. Knowing that you are one of them is very important. I know you keep saying you don't want to push, but I don't want to push either. In my past I have been too quick to push people away when they started to get close. I don't want to do that again." They smiled at each other realizing that they were both trying to do the same thing just in different ways. "Well let's go eat." Chuck said as he took Sarah's hand and led her to the kitchen.

Dinner was simple and quick with simple small talk exchanged and just the enjoyment of each others company. Upon dinner wrapping up Chuck started cleaning the mess. Unsure of what to do next he started to clean. "Chuck I think I am ready for a shower and some sleep" Sarah stated. Chuck wanted Sarah to stay. He wanted to be in their home together again, but he wasn't sure if Sarah was ready for this. Yes she was regaining memories but had she regained enough to feel comfortable here. "Sarah. I would love for you to stay here. I can sleep in the quest room. I can make sure to give you your space when needed. I just want you around, and I know it might be selfish, and you might not be ready but it just feels right." Chuck continued to ramble on and Sarah couldn't help but smile. He was spiraling again and it just warmed her heart to see this man in front of her. She knew she shouldn't feel this strongly already, but she did. She wasn't ready to vocalize it yet, but she could give him another sign she was moving forward he deserved it. "Chuck "she said interrupting him mid rant. "I think that it would be a good idea if I stay here with you. I also think the guest room idea might be a good start. I want to be with you to, but I am not ready to start things up where they were. Chuck I still don't remember much, but I know that I can trust you, and right now I need to be with people I can trust. Someone else could easily play on my situation again, and I can't risk that. How about I go get in the shower and get ready for bed while you finish up here." Sarah kissed Chuck on the cheek and slowly headed off to the bathroom. Chuck just smiled ear to ear without a word. He was so happy he couldn't muster a single sound. Sarah completed her shower and got ready for bed. She came out of the bathroom to see Chuck sitting on the living room couch reading a book. When he heard her open the door he quickly set the book down and approached Sarah. "Feel better after some food and a shower?" he asked. "Very much so" she responded fighting back a yawn. "Well I would say it is time for bed there pretty lady" he replied fighting back a yawn of his own. They wrapped each other in a slow embrace and just stood there for a moment taking each other in. "I will let you get some sleep, and tomorrow I will make you a beautiful breakfast, and maybe call Ellie and see what she thinks about everything that has happened." Chuck said worryingly. He had thought about how to broach the subject while Sarah was in the shower. Elle was one of the few doctors that he trusted that also had intimate knowledge of both the intersect and his wife. Sarah thought for a moment and reluctantly agreed. As much as it scared her to see Ellie again so soon she knew that she had to eventually. "As long as you promise to be with me for whatever tests she wants to run" Sarah replied. Chuck just light out a small chuckle and sighed. "You are stuck with me no matter what" he replied. With that they both just laughed a little and gave each other a quick kiss goodnight. "Goodnight Chuck." "Goodnight Sarah." They slowly separated from their embrace and went to their separate rooms. Neither was ready to be away from the other, but they knew today had been special in so many ways and they at least had that for now.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's notes: Here is another chapter. I first want to thank everyone for their reviews. They are very helpful. I am hoping to get through the emotional stuff through the next couple chapters and move on to our favorite couples next adventure. Thank you again and any advice going forward would be greatly appreciated. Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck.

Sarah lay in bed staring at the ceiling. No matter how she situated herself she could not get comfortable. It really wasn't a matter of comfort as much of a matter of getting her brain to shut down. She had all these thoughts running through her head, and all these emotions. It was almost like the feelings over the last five years were right there, but the memories that should be attached to them were missing. She had feelings for Chuck, his family, this place, and so many other things but couldn't justify them in her mind. How can the feelings from the past five years be so strong and present but the memories that formed them be missing. As time passed she decided to investigate the room further. If I can't sleep I might as well gather some Intel she thought to herself. She spent the next hour or so going through drawers, looking at pictures, and anything else she could get her hands on. She was about to give up when she saw her old suitcase sitting in the corner. She thought maybe she kept mission stuff in there since spies have to always be on alert. She pulled the suitcase out and wheeled it over to the bed. She opened it to find it empty. She was a little disappointed she had hoped maybe something would be in there and remind her of a mission her and Chuck had gone on. She was about to close it up when she noticed something sticking out of the inside zipper. She slowly reached in and pulled the item in question out for a closer look. It was a picture of her and Chuck. They looked so happy. He was embracing her and they both were smiling for the camera. She looked at the picture and couldn't help but feel a since of importance run over her. This picture was important it represented something more than just a simple picture. As she looked at it all these feelings started to race through her mind. Then just like at the beach a memory crashed into her. She could see herself unpacking and having a conversation with Chuck. Then she heard herself say "You are my home Chuck. You always have been." Sarah's eyes snapped open as the moment began to calm. She remembered the mission to Mulan, and the argument about unpacking. It had just come flooding back to her. She wanted to run to Chuck and tell him, but she also didn't want to get his hopes up. Yes she remembered this important moment, but was she really ready to start acting on these memories.

Chuck had not slept well since all of this began. Without his wife by his side he just couldn't find the ability to rest. He slowly got out of bed and walked over to grab his wallet. Inside was a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it slowly revealing its contents. Inside was the drawing from the bullet train. The perfect family in front of the perfect house. He just sighed as he looked at the image. In his hand was the last thing that he and Sarah had done before everything got turned upside down. It represented everything over the past five years that they had fought for. At the beginning sure it was just fighting to be together, but as they grew together it became so much more. In that moment on the bullet train everything was finally coming to fruition. Everything they had fought for, everything they had scraped and clawed to have was right there in front of them. Then in a flash it was all taken. He could feel the tears starting to well up, but he had decided that he had to be strong. Sarah needed him to be the strong one now, and he didn't have the luxury of breaking down now. He folded the picture up slowly. He knew that he would keep it with him always. It was a reminder of just what he was fighting for. He was fighting for his family. The family he had now and the family he hoped to have someday. As Chuck placed the drawing back in his wallet he heard a slight knock on the door. He turned and saw Sarah.

"Chuck. I remember our mission to Mulan." She blurted out. She knew she had to say it fast before the logical side of her brain won out and stopped her from saying it at all. The look on Chuck's melted Sarah's heart. It was the look of a little kid getting exactly what he wanted for Christmas. She walked over to him and took his hands in hers. "What all do you remember?" He asked. Sarah retold the story of their Mulan mission with surprising accuracy. Chuck just listened and took it all in. He was so happy in this moment, and to think just a few minutes ago he was ready to break down. Sarah got to the end of her memory and she paused for a moment. "You are my home Chuck. You always have been." She stated. Chuck heard this and smiled. He could remember how big at the time this moment was for them. It was when she started to truly open up to him. He looked at Sarah and just smiled. "Chuck right before I remembered the mission I was looking at this picture from my suit case. I felt all these emotions and then like a tidal wave it hit me. It all came flooding back the mission, the unpacking, all of it. It was right there. "She said. Chuck processed this information slowly. He recalled what Ellie had told him when convincing him to go after Sarah, and win her back. She just kept saying feeling and emotions were powerful things. Maybe she was on to something. Maybe the combination of the feeling and the picture were able to bring forward the memory. This was the third time it had happened since all this began. In their dream house, on the beach, and now in their apartment. There had to be something to this, and he knew the next step. He had to call Ellie to figure out what to do. "Sarah this is amazing. I really think we need to call Ellie and see what she thinks about all of this." Sarah just stared at Chuck not sure what to say. She was freighted of what wounds that would bring up. After everything she had put Chuck and Ellie through in the last few weeks. Yes Chuck forgave her almost instantly, but she was his wife. Ellie was family, but would she be able to forgive as easy as Chuck did. "You are probably right. I am just worried how she will react towards me. I did threaten to kill here just a few weeks ago." Sarah said. Chuck placed both his hands on Sarah's face and gave her a gentle kiss. He looked her in the eyes. "See us Bartowski's we do anything for family. Even forgive almost instantly" he said. Sarah allowed a little smile to creep onto her face. She knew in that moment that no matter what that Chuck would not let anything happen to her. That because of that no one in his family would either. That this family had been through so much and was willing to go through so much more for the people they love. "Why don't we get some sleep and we will call Ellie in the morning." Sarah said. Chuck just nodded and gave her a kiss on the forehead. As Sarah walked back to her room she wanted a since of calm washed over her again. She knew that they would make it through this, and that together there wasn't anything they couldn't do.

Sarah awoke to the distant sound of talking. She could hear Chuck's voice, but that was the only part of the conversation that she could hear. He must be on the phone with Ellie she thought. She got up and began to clean up a little from her Intel gathering mission. As she was putting things back a knock came from the door. She saw Chuck slowly pushing the door open. She thought it was cute how timid he looked in that moment. Like he didn't want to disturb her. "Good morning Chuck." "Good morning Sarah." They just both stared into each other's eyes. "I just got off the phone with Ellie. She got some time off work for a family emergency, and is going to fly back to run a couple of tests if you are ok with it?" Sarah thought about it and as much as it scared her she knew Ellie was the best equipped for the job. "Ya I think that is a good idea." Chuck closed the gap between them and took Sarah's hands in his. "Don't worry it will be ok, and I will be here for all of it." Sarah just smiled. "Chuck I am worried. This is all new to me. Put me in a gun fight or in the middle of any type of mission and I know what to do. Having so many people that just care for me and want me to be ok that is something new. I know that I was probably used to it before, but now I just am scared. What if I am never the same again or never regain all my memories. Will all of you look at me like I am a different person?" Chuck just looked on in terror. "Sarah no matter what happens I will always love you. Yes that love might change because you change, but I have and will change also. Change is inevitable. If we stick together then we can get through this and be stronger for it. My family…No our family will always be there not matter what. They will love you for you not who you use to be, but for who you are right now." As Chuck was talking Sarah just smiled. He knew exactly what to say and exactly when to say it. He always seemed to have this calming effect on her, and it was great. Having someone in her life that knew her so well and that was willing to change with her was an amazing feeling. Sarah started to talk but she was interrupted by the sound of a pounding from the front door. "Hey guys I know you are in there. Come on let me in. I gave you last night. Now I want to know what is going on." Morgan shouted. Chuck just looked at Sarah and smiled. "Guess now is as good of time as any to give him the update." Sarah nodded in agreement as Chuck left the bedroom heading towards the front door. Sarah looked around at her surrounding and new she was home and no matter how much the family stuff scared her it also gave her hope for a future that she never knew to be possible.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I don't own Chuck.

Chapter 4.

"What's up buddy?" Chuck stated as he opened the door.

"What's up? I saw you and Sarah come home together last night, and I want to know did it work." Morgan asked with a look of anticipation across his face.

Chuck hesitated. "Well yes and no." He sighed.

"What do you mean yes or no? Either she remembers or she doesn't." Morgan said.

"She doesn't remember everything, and the kiss didn't really bring anything back but it did make her want to stay." Chuck said with a smile on his face.

"Well that is a start and the best news that I have heard all day." Morgan said with a humongous grin.

Sarah just stayed back in the hall listening to the two friends go back and forth. She could imagine this was what it was like all the time around here. Morgan and Chuck seemed to have a very special relationship. She would almost qualify it more as brothers than just best friends. As she continued to listen a warm feeling washed over her and she remembered a small conversation between her and Chuck. She could remember Chuck telling her about Morgan being there for him when his parents left. Most of the memory remained fuzzy. This memory wasn't as strong as the other ones that had come flooding back, but there was definitely something there. She made a mental note so that she could tell Ellie. She knew all of this meant something, but she wasn't sure what and she was going to figure it out. After a little badgering Morgan left the apartment. He agreed with Chuck that Sarah needed time to readjust to everything and Morgan was just happy that she had agreed to stay with Chuck and figure it out. Chuck agreed to stop by Morgan and Alex's place later in the day to give them an update of everything that had happened so far. When Chuck turned around he was surprised to see Sarah standing there.

"Sorry about that. Morgan was just really excited to see us together last night. He means well just isn't always the best at timing." Chuck said with a slight chuckle.

"It's ok. I can tell he cares a lot for you, and that you care for him. I kind of remember a conversation between the two of us about why Morgan is so important to you. He was there for you when your parents left right?" Sarah said shyly. This memory hadn't been as strong and she was worried about its authenticity.

Chuck grinned "Ya Ya something like that." They just stood there looking at each other neither one sure which step to take next. "How about some breakfast?" Chuck said finally breaking the awkward silence.

"That would be great I am starving" Sarah replied.

While Chuck started to make breakfast Sarah decided to take a quick shower. She stood under the water lost in thought. So many things had happened in the last couple of weeks, and the processing of this information could be overwhelming. She thought about Quinn, her mission, her memories, and so much more. The more and more she thought about these things the more confusing things became. She trusted Chuck and that was the only thing she was sure about at the moment. Even with all her spy training she had never been prepared for a situation like this. Not like massive memory loss was covered on the farm. She thought about all her training and how it took her from a scared little girl to a strong confident spy, but she also thought about all the things that it took from her. The CIA stripped you down to nothing and then built you up to the perfect agent. While all these emotions and thoughts were running through her head she noticed the water starting to get cold. She quickly turned off the water and grabbed a towel. How long was I in here she thought. She dried off and quickly got dressed wrapping a towel around her head to help her hair finish drying.

As she walked out of the bathroom she could smell the food that Chuck had been preparing.

"How was your shower?" Chuck asked.

"It was nice and relaxing." Sarah replied.

"You were in there for a while did you get lost?" Chuck commented with a smile.

Sarah let out a light laugh. It was still somewhat new to her to have this person who could always seem to make her laugh and smile. She sat down and enjoyed a nice breakfast. After breakfast Sarah wondered over to the couch. She wanted to ask Chuck something, but she didn't know how.

"Chuck" Sarah said with a hint of in trepidation in her voice.

"Yes Sarah."

"I was just wondering if you would mind if I spent the day running some errands…..alone?"

Chuck looked at her for a moment not sure what to say. He had just gotten her back and he wanted to spend every moment with her. He also didn't want to push her to hard. He didn't think she would run since they had made so much progress in the last couple of days, but it was always in the back of his mind.

"Sure that will be fine. If you don't mind me asking where are you off to?" Chuck said.

"I just have a couple things I need to do alone. Don't worry I will be back in no time. It is nothing dangerous just something I have to do." Chuck nodded in understanding and then got up and grabbed Sarah's keys.

"I tell you what take as long as you need just call me when you are on your way back and I will have dinner waiting on you. My famous chicken pepperoni." Chuck said with a smile on his face.

Sarah knew that his smile was a forced one it was him giving her what she needed. She wanted to tell Chuck it was going to be ok, but words were never her strong suit. Instead she slowly walked over to him and took both his hands in hers. She looked up into his eyes and just stood there. After a moment she slowly pressed her lips to his. She wanted to show Chuck that she was here to stay. As she broke the kiss Chuck's true Bartowski smile graced her with its presence. She loved that smile. "I will call you in a little bit Chuck. See you later."

"Ok Sarah I will see you in a little while."

Sarah had been gone for a little over and hour. Chuck had been cleaning and pacing, and cleaning some more. He finally stopped himself and pulled the picture out of his wallet again. He just starred at it. Taking it all in and remembering the moment that he and Sarah had shared in the sleeping compartment on the bullet train. While he was looking at the picture he heard a small noise come from behind him. He snapped around ready to strike when he saw Morgan standing there.

"Hey buddy. I saw Sarah leave a little while I ago and I wanted to check on you."

Chuck relaxed and took a deep breath. "Thanks bud. I am doing fine just cleaning up."

Morgan looked at Chuck and knew there was more to the story. "I know you are not fine bud. This is Chewie you are talking too, and Chewie knows when Han isn't ok. You can tell me." Morgan pleaded.

Chuck didn't know what to think he was happy. Sarah was back and slowly regaining her memories there was just a small part of him that was struggling with the whole thing. "I don't know what's wrong with me Morgan. I am truly happy that Sarah is back and is willing to work on things. It's just hard to have your wife right next to you, but also feel like she is miles away." Chuck just looked on in horror. He couldn't believe he was saying these things. He should be thrilled. He had Sarah back and he had come so close to losing her.

"I can't even imagine what you are going through. I think it is normal to feel that way. For the most part you are happy, but there is a part of you that knows this is going to be a long journey and that part scares you. You want it to be over and back to normal. That is perfectly understandable. Just hang in there and you will get there." Morgan said with a smile.

"What were you looking at?" Morgan asked.

"Oh nothing." Chuck started fumbling with the picture to put it back in his wallet.

"Come on bud if you can't tell me then who can you tell."

Chuck looked at Morgan and reluctantly started to speak. "It is a picture Sarah and I drew before all of this happened. It is of the two of us with a baby in front of our dream house." Morgan just stood there. Chuck looked at him wondering what comment his little friend would make, or what words of wisdom he would try to part to him.

"Show her the picture." Morgan blurted out.

"What are you talking about? I can't put that kind of pressure on Sarah. She just decided to stay and work things out together, and you want me to show her a picture of us with a child at our dream house." Chuck replied in shock.

"Show her the picture." Morgan stated again.

"Buddy it's not that simple."

"Chuck you are over thinking things again. You and Sarah have been through so much and every time you have made it through it. Maybe it hasn't always been the easiest path for you guys but you always come out on the other end stronger for it. The picture represents everything you and Sarah have fought for. Maybe she just needs to see what you guys are fighting for again." Morgan said. "Look I know all of this is scary and the last thing you want to do is push Sarah away, but the fact remains that she it here. Sarah wouldn't be here if she didn't want to fix this. She would be long gone. She told you herself she was going to kill Quinn and then disappear. Well she killed Quinn and she is still here. You can't be scared to put it out there. I don't think you are going to show her the picture and she is instantly going to want that, but it will show her what she means to you. If anything it will show her that you are here for the long haul. You can tell her it's not what the picture shows it what it represents. It represents a future together whatever that future holds." Morgan stood and looked at Chuck for any sign of what he was going to do next.

"I will think about it bud." Chuck said averting his eyes from Morgan.

"Just remember our brain only gets in the way." Morgan turned around and exited the apartment leaving Chuck with his thoughts.

Sarah was on a mission. She wanted to retrace places in Burbank and see what she could shake loose. She had visited her hotel room at Masion23, the orange orange, and even the Buy More. Nothing jumped out at her. It all gave her a since of familiarity, but that was it. As she got back into her Lotus her mind drifted to Chuck. She didn't want Chuck to tag along today, because she was worried he would get his hopes up just to have them crushed. She hadn't remembered anything and that was what she was afraid of. She couldn't see that heartbreak in Chuck's eyes knowing she was causing it. She had feelings for this man and if she was honest with herself she was falling in love with him all over again.

Why can't I remember anything she shouted as she punched her steering wheel. She just sat there letting the anger subside. She so badly wanted everything to come flooding back and just to be able to move on from all of this nonsense with Quinn. Then it hit her. Maybe she could just move on. What if instead of focusing on remembering she just focused on living. She loved Chuck and she knew it. What if instead of fighting it she just gave in and told him how she felt. That way they could move on with their lives and just see what happens. It made since to her, but when she faced him would she be able to say it. She had tried so many times, but could never seem to get out the words. It scared her to say those three words that held so much power.

As she started her car a memory washed over her. She was sitting on their couch waiting on Chuck to arrive. When Chuck came in all she could think about was saying I love you. She just blurted it out and Chuck smiled that magical smile that he only seemed to have for her. Sarah snapped back to reality and she knew exactly what she had to do. She couldn't live in fear of what might happen or what she might or might not remember. Sarah pulled out her phone and dialed Chuck.

"Chuck I am on my way home. " Sarah said.

"Ok I will get dinner started and guess what. Ellie was able to get an early flight and is on her way to the apartment. She will probably get here the same time you do. I will get dinner ready and be waiting for you." Chuck said while trying to contain his excitement.

"Ok I will see you in a few. Bye." Sarah said before hanging up the phone. Sarah smiled the man she loved was waiting for her and this time she knew exactly what she was going to do about it.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thank you again for all the wonderful reviews. I am new to writing and have really enjoyed the process. All help is greatly appreciated. Please read and review. As always I do not own Chuck

Ellie pulled up in front of Echo Park. She couldn't believe that she was back so soon. She was just starting her new life in Chicago, and just like that she was back. Not that she minded she would do anything for her brother. A sense of fear crept over her as she approached the apartment. She was afraid of what all of this might bring. What if she couldn't help, or if she found something worse. She couldn't stand the thought of breaking Chuck's heart. She remembered him just weeks ago lying on her and Devin's couch and the heartbreak written across his face. She remembered how bad things were for Chuck when Jill broke his heart, but she knew this would be so much worse. Sarah was everything to Chuck. Ellie took a deep breath she was going to help any way she could. Chuck and Sarah deserved that much. She took another deep breath to calm her nerves and gave the door a knock.

Ellie was pleasantly surprised when Chuck opened the door with a gigantic smile on his face. "Ellie, I am so glad to see you. Thank you for coming it means so much to Sarah and I." Chuck said as he took his sister into his arms.

"Chuck you know us Bartowski's we do anything for family." Ellie said with a smile. Ellie couldn't help but look at Chuck with amazement. This was such a different person than five years ago. Yes he needed a little push to go after Sarah, but once he got the push he jumped right in and didn't look back. When Ellie and Chuck had spoken on the phone she figured Chuck was giving her a false since of how good everything was going, but now seeing him she could tell he was filled with hope. "So where is Sarah?" Ellie asked looking around for her sister-in-law.

"She went to run a few errands and should be back any moment." Chuck responded as he grabbed Ellie's stuff. Chuck ushered Ellie in and closed the door behind her. He was so glad to have his sister here to help. He knew she would stop at nothing to do what was best for him and his wife. "I almost have dinner ready would you like a glass of wine while we wait for Sarah?" Chuck asked.

"Sure that would be great." Ellie walked over to the couch and had a seat. She was glad to have a moment alone with Chuck. She figured that would be the best way for her to truly gage how Chuck felt and what was going on. She knew her brother and protecting Sarah was always going to be his first priority. "So how is everything going?" Ellie stated as she took her glass of wine from Chuck.

"Really well all things considered. Sarah is remembering some things here and there, and more importantly she is willing to stay here and work on them." Chuck looked at his sister and could since she wanted to ask more. "What is it Ell? I know that look and you want to dig deeper don't you."

"Not really Chuck I just worry about you. I am your big sister it is part of the job. I want you and Sarah to be happy and I can only imagine how difficult this has all been. I just want to help prepare you for everything. I have seen people go through similar things, all be it not caused by a secret government super computer, but it can be a long road." Ellie looked at Chuck trying to gauge his reaction to her comments.

"Actually it is funny you say that. Morgan and I talked about that this morning. I will admit that I am ecstatic that Sarah is back and that she is willing to work on things, but it is hard having your wife right next to you yet feel like she is so far away." Chuck looked at Ellie hoping that her words of wisdom could shine through like they had so many times throughout his life.

"Chuck that is perfectly normal, and don't beat yourself up about having those feelings. It's like I have said before Sarah is special. You and I both know that, and she is worth fighting for." Ellie just smiled at Chuck and took his hand. "So how has the memory recovery been working so far?"

Chuck started telling Ellie about all the instances where Sarah had regained her memories. Talking about the moment at the dream house, Irene Demova, the beach, and all the other moments since they left the beach. Ellie just listened intently taking mental notes. She wanted to ask Sarah the same question and compare their answers. Obviously Sarah's answer carried the most weight since it was all happening to her, but Chuck's answer also helped. It gave Ellie an outside view of the process. Chuck could relay the looks on Sarah's face and the emotions she seemed to be showing. When Chuck finished talking Ellie took a moment to process everything.

"It seems to me that her emotions are the key. In most instances she had a feeling come over her first and then a memory that was attached to that emotion came back to her. I have a theory about a couple things, but I want to wait until Sarah is here so we can all discuss them together. I will want to run some tests and see what we find."

"What kind of tests?" Sarah asked as she closed the door behind her.

"Hi Sarah it is so good to see you." Ellie closed the gap between them and took Sarah in a bone crushing embrace.

Sarah was a little shocked by the overwhelming affection that Ellie was showing. It hadn't been that long ago when she had held this woman at gun point, and now here she was dropping everything in her life to help her. Sarah just smiled wondering…no knowing this is what it was like to be part of the Bartowski clan. They loved and forgave their family almost instantly. Sarah returned the hug and slowly broke the embrace. After Ellie returned to her seat Sarah was able to see Chuck for the first time since her revelation. She looked at him differently she just couldn't help but smile. She loved this man and she was going to do whatever it took to convince him of that fact. She walked over to him and gave him a passionate kiss. "Dinner smells amazing." Sarah said as she broke their embrace.

Chuck, still in a little shock from the kiss, "ya….ya….it's almost ready." He finally stammered out.

Sarah just laughed at Chuck's tongue tie moment and went to the kitchen to get herself a glass of wine. "So Ellie what is your plan of action on this whole memory front?" Sarah asked

"First we need to verify if the interest was removed or just suppressed. Obviously Quinn did one of the two because he would not have wanted to risk you flashing while on your mission. Second I want to verify that there was no damage caused by the faulty intersect. Thirdly I want to see why your memory loss was different than Morgan's." Ellie paused for a moment to allow Chuck and Sarah to take that in.

"Different?" Chuck and Sarah replied in unison.

"Yes different. Yes Morgan lost memories, but his were random things that seemed to bounce all over the place. Sarah yours were more specific. Quinn somehow targeted your time with Chuck. Just think if you would have remembered just one thing about Chuck Quinn's plan wouldn't had worked. Also if Quinn would have gone back to far it could have jeopardized his plans as well."

Chuck and Sarah just sat in silence thinking about what Ellie had just said. It made since. For Quinn's plan to work there had to be away for him to target specific memories, or at least a specific time frame. No respectable agent would leave something so major up to chance. He would at the very minimum hedge his bets to give him the best possible outcome. "Hey lets go eat. I am starving." Ellie said breaking the silence.

As the three adults sat around the table eating they laughed and joked about so many things. Sarah felt comfortable and safe. She couldn't believe that she had been blessed with such amazing people in her life. She was a spy, an assassin, and so many other bad things. In her line of work you don't get the happy ever after or the loving family. The best you hope for is an early retirement to somewhere quiet where no one knows who you are. Yet here right in front of her was a couple of the most amazing people she had ever met, and this was only a small part of their group. She just smiled and intently listened to Ellie tell stories about Chuck and her childhood. She knew she had probably heard most of these stories before, but in this moment it didn't matter. Her memory loss wasn't going to define her she could make new memories and hopefully in the process regain some of the old ones. "So Ellie when do you want to start some of these test?" Sarah stated wanting to get the process started and completed as fast as possible.

"I called in some favors at the hospital and have a four hour window blocked off tomorrow morning. I figured we could get the scans, blood work, and basic vital stuff out of the way first. I hopefully will be able to get some basic answers pretty quickly. Once we figure out what Quinn did with the intersect we might have to call General Beckman to help with that part, but we can cross that bridge when we get there." Ellie looked over at Chuck and Sarah. They were holding hands and looked so in love. It reminded her of all the times she had seen them together in the past even when their relationship was a cover. She always knew there was something there, and seeing it now gave her hope that no matter what she found things were going to be ok. "Chuck can you go get us some dessert at the store?" Ellie asked.

"Ellie I am sure we have something here. I think we have some ice cream in the freezer or….."Chuck's voice started to fade as he looked at his sister and finally put two and two together. "Are you trying to get rid of me?" Chuck asked with a sheepish grin plastered across his face.

"Maybe. I just think it would be nice to have a little bit of girl talk with my sister." Ellie said with a hint of begging in her voice.

"Ok ok. I will go get some pie or something. It should take me about an hour…." Chuck said more as a question than a statement.

"I think about an hour sounds right, so get out of here Chuck." Ellie laughed while she pushed her brother towards the door.

Sarah could feel the tension building in the room. This was the first time that her and Ellie had been in a room together since everything had happened. What do you say to someone that you threatened to kill? Sarah just looked at Ellie waiting for the ax to fall. Was everything from before a show for Chuck's sake? The hug, the laughing, the conversation could it all of been a show. Sarah calmed herself laughing inside she was spiraling like Chuck. "So Ellie what would you like to talk about?" Sarah said cautiously.

"Sarah…I want you to know I forgive you for everything that has happened. I know Quinn manipulated you and you were just doing what you thought was right at the time. Even with that I need you to know something. I practically raised Chuck. I don't know what you do or don't remember about our family, but I have been there for him through a lot and this situation is no different. I need to know that you are going to be here for him no matter what I find. That no matter rather or not we can get your memories back you are going to try. Chuck loves you more than anything in this world. So Sarah I just have one question do you love my brother?"

Sarah sat in shock. Where was this coming from? Her she was just realizing this fact herself and Ellie was throwing the thought around like it was nothing. Sarah didn't know how to respond. Yes she did love him, and wanted nothing more than to be with him. Was she ready to put it out there for the world? Could she finally burry years of spy training and let someone in. As she starred at Ellie more and more questions ran through her head. Finally in a moment she blurted out the words "Yes…Ellie I do." Sarah sat and looked at Ellie. Chuck's sister just starred at her with no emotion. She could feel her eyes piercing down to her very soul. In all her years of espionage she had been interrogated, tortured, and none of those times compared to right now. This was the first time where she really had something to lose.

Finally Ellie broke the stair with an intense shriek and another bone crushing hug. Sarah not knowing what to think of everything just hugged her back waiting for the Ellie to speak. "Sarah I am so glad to hear that. I know it is crazy to ask so soon, but I could just tell by the way you looked at him when you walked into the apartment. Sorry for the intense moment I tried to channel my inner spy and see what you would say." Ellie said.

"It's ok Ellie, and I have to say you ha me sweating bullets. If the doctor gig doesn't work out maybe interrogation could be your next calling." Sarah said with a smirk.

"Oh no you and Chuck can have the spy world I will stick to medicine." Ellie joked

"Ok now that we have that out of the way I wanted to ask you a few questions. First what if anything do you recall from your time with Quinn? Secondly when your memories come back what happens and how does it feel?" Sarah could tell that Ellie had removed her sister hat and was now strictly in doctor mode. Sarah began to lay out everything she remembered about the time before she returned to the apartment. Which to be honest wasn't much. Sarah also explained the calming feeling that seemed to accompany when her memories came back to her. Sarah was thankful to have Ellie to talk to about all of this. She knew she could talk to Chuck, but this way she could say everything. She still wanted to protect Chuck and she knew that telling him some of this would be hard.

"Sarah obviously your memories are still there. We just need to figure out why you can't access them. I think the reason your emotions are triggering your memory recovery is because your brain is trying to place these memories and when you have similar feelings or see a something that is directly attached to a memory your brain finally knows what to do. Think of it like a giant jig saw puzzle with all the pieces spread out on the table. Your brain doesn't know what is what. When you feel or see something familiar your brain is able to put some of the pieces back together. Does that make any sense?" Ellie said pausing to give Sarah a moment to gather her thoughts.

Sarah nodded in agreement. "The brain scans we do tomorrow will help up figure out what is causing the issues. It could be physical damage caused by the intersect, or it could be a host of other things. I really won't know anything until we get the scans done."

"Ellie I can't thank you enough for everything you are doing. I just wanted to tell you one last thing before Chuck gets back. Today I went on a fact finding mission so to speak. I went to all the places Chuck told me about hoping to knock loose some memories. Nothing really came to me and I got pretty upset. I was hoping to be able to come back to Chuck with all these memories and there was nothing. But then it hit me. I don't have to continue to dwell on my memory issue. Yes I want them back but it doesn't have to be my driving force. I love Chuck and that is what matters. Together we can make new memories and hopefully get some old ones back in the process. I want to do these tests to make sure nothing is wrong, but after that I am going to focus on a life with Chuck." Sarah felt a weight lift off of her as she spoke these words. She felt like she could finally be free. She was no longer a slave to her job, or her fear. For the first time in a long time she was taking control of her life. She knew she had probably had the same inner dilemma before when it came to Chuck, but none of that mattered because she was ending it now.

The smile that was on Ellie's face could probably be seen from space. In that brief moment she had heard everything she wanted and needed to hear from Sarah. This wasn't just about getting her memories back any more this was about living her life, and having a future with Chuck. Ellie could finally relax she no longer had to be her brothers protector he had a pretty good one sitting right in front of her. "That is great Sarah now you just need to tell Chuck."

"Tell Chuck what?" Chuck said startling both women in the process. "Sorry didn't mean to scare you guys I just came back with some chocolate croissants. "

"Oh nothing just that Sarah is ready for her tests in the morning." Ellie blurted out quickly hoping to cover the emotional conversation that had just happened.

"That's good news. I will set these on the kitchen table, and we can discuss the plan for tomorrow. "Chuck commented as he walked towards the kitchen.

"Ellie. I am going to tell Chuck everything tomorrow after the tests. I want him to know no matter what the results that I am here to stay." Sarah whispered.

Ellie stood up and gave Sarah a quick hug and the walked to Chuck. "I am beat I am going across the court yard to get some sleep. Devin and I haven't gotten rid of the apartment yet so I figured I could crash there until I leave. I need to get some rest before our big day tomorrow." Ellie said as she released Chuck from one last hug.

"Ok sis. We will see you in the morning."

As Ellie closed the door behind her just let out a deep breath. She knew that no matter what happened tomorrow Chuck and Sarah were going to be ok, and that is all a big sister can ask for.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Usual disclaimer I don't own any of the characters portrayed.

Chuck closed the door behind his sister and turned expecting to see Sarah. He was caught by surprise when she had disappeared from the room. "Sarah" he yelled. Chuck was worried today had been too much for her that maybe with whatever she had done today without him she just needed to come home and rest.

"I will be out in a minute" Sarah replied. Chuck was able to follow the sound back to their bedroom. He wondered why she had rushed off to so fast upon Ellie leaving. Just as he was about to ask if everything was ok Sarah opened the door and was standing there in a pair of Chuck's boxers and one of his star wars t-shirts. Chuck had never seen a prettier sight. Yes Sarah owned some beautiful undergarments, but there was something about seeing her in his cloths that just felt so right. "I just wanted to get comfortable. I figured we could eat dessert and maybe watch a movie or something." Sarah said with a seductive grin.

"That…..sounds great." Was all Chuck was able to get out. He knew this wasn't the sexiest outfit his wife owned, but in this moment it represented so much more. It showed a level of comfort between them.

"Earth to Chuck…you in there" Sarah said to break Chuck's stare. She found it adorable that she still had that effect on him. She had wanted to do something for Chuck. Something so show him that things were becoming easier. She figured wearing something of his would show him that she was becoming more comfortable in their home. It really felt nice for Sarah to say that. Our home she thought again. Growing up she had never really had a home, but with Chuck she had a home wherever they were together.

"Sorry for starring Sarah it's just you look so beautiful right now." Chuck commented.

"Really in this old thing." Sarah replied.

"It's just seeing you in our home wearing my cloths it's something I didn't know when I would see again. I mean you are always beautiful no matter what you are wearing. Not saying you have to wear my cloths to be comfortable." Chuck was beginning to ramble.

Sarah slowly reached up and planted a quick kiss on Chuck's lips. She wanted to save her husband from rambling himself into a hole he couldn't get out of. "How about I go get dessert ready and you go pick a movie." Sarah smiled at Chuck as she passed him on her way to the kitchen.

"That is a good idea. I am going to change real quick then I will meet you in there." Chuck shouted as he dashed into their room. Chuck quickly put on a t-shit and a pair of pajama pants. It was crazy but right now in the moment he was so excited to watch a movie with Sarah while in their pajamas. It felt like a dream to Chuck. Just a few weeks ago he had thought he had lost her and now they were going to be having a lazy evening in together. Chuck left the bedroom and found Sarah looking through the DVDs. Dessert was sitting on the coffee table and she had brought over a couple glasses of wine. Sarah had also lit a couple of candles and turned most of the lights off. Chuck just starred in amazement. He had to pinch himself to make sure this was all real. "So did you find something you like?" Chuck asked.

Sarah looked up and gazed at Chuck "Yes I did, but I haven't found a movie yet." Sarah said with a sultry smile. Sarah looked at Chuck for another moment then returned to their movie collection. Chuck just sat at watched. He did not want to do anything to upset this moment. Here in front of him was the most amazing woman he had ever known, and she was slowly coming back to him. "Found one." Sarah blurted breaking Chuck's gaze.

"What did you pick?" Chuck asked curiously. Wondering which one of his nerd movies, as she had called them in the past, she had chosen.

"Star Wars I figured I already have the shirt on, so why not watch the movie to complete the ensemble. " Sarah said with a chuckle.

"I think that is a great idea. Hand me the movie my lady and I shall start the show." Chuck said while giving Sarah a slight bow.

As Chuck put the movie in Sarah got comfortable on the couch. Here she was the great Sarah Walker enjoying a night in with an amazing man. She couldn't believe this was really her life. Chuck turned around to join her she saw a look of confusion come across his face. She figured he wasn't sure how close he was supposed to sit. To help alleviate the confusion Sarah reached out her arms inviting Chuck in for a hug and quick kiss. When they broke she ushered Chuck to his seat and promptly placed her head on his shoulder. This just felt right Sarah thought. She couldn't believe the now on two separate occasions she had fought this, tried to run from it. She knew it must have been difficult the first time, and her video log had helped her to confirm this. In this moment she knew there wouldn't be a third time. This is where she was going to stay no matter what. As the movie began Chuck and Sarah both began to succumb to the day and fall asleep in each other's arms. The perfect ending to a pretty amazing day Sarah thought before her eyes finally closed and sleep won out.

Ellie knocked on the door and was surprised to find no answer. I text them last night to let them know I would be here at 9 for Sarah so we could head to the hospital she thought to herself. Ellie pulled out her key and quietly opened the door. She didn't want to startle the couple especially a spy couple. When she walked in the apartment she was pleasantly surprised to find Chuck and Sarah still sleeping on the couch with the menu screen of the movie repeating itself on the TV. Ellie couldn't help but laugh at the sight. Here was her brother and his super spy wife asleep on the couch after a long movie night. Maybe they can get their normal life after all she thought. Ellie made a loud noise clearing her throat hoping to wake the sleeping couple. Sarah was the first to open her eyes. "Good morning Sarah." Ellie said holding back a smile.

"Good morning Ellie. Sorry guess we fell asleep watching the movie last night." Sarah replied with a hint of sleep still in her voice. "Chuck time to wake up." Sarah nudged Chuck and he began to stir.

"5 more minutes babe." Chuck said as he grabbed Sarah and held her tight.

"Get up Chuck we have to get to the hospital to get Sarah's tests in." Ellie shouted with some frustration in her voice. Ellie was reminded of all the times over the past years that she had to wake Chuck up for school, work, or whatever else was going on.

Chuck finally opened his eyes and took in the scene. His sister was staring at him with a look of annoyance. His wife had her head resting on his chest and was wrapped in his arms. He didn't want to let her go, but he knew he better or Ellie was going to kill him. "I 'm up I'm up." Chuck pleaded as he stood up to stretch his frame.

"Good you two hurry up and get ready, and we can grab some breakfast on the way. Chop chop." Ellie commanded. The two got up from the couch and headed down the hall. Neither one wanted to be on Ellie's bad side this morning, so they figured they better get moving.

Chuck sat in the waiting room of the hospital for what seemed like an eternity. He would sit for a while then pace for a while the whole time staring at the two double doors that Sarah and Ellie had disappeared through when they first arrived. He could since things between him and Sarah were slowly getting back to normal. Even though nothing physical had happened last night just the fact that she slept the entire night in his arms told him she was ready for more. He just wanted these tests to be over. To know that no more harm was going to come to his wife. He just wants to know where they stand. If everything comes back normal then he can work with Sarah and start over, and hopefully gain back some of the past while doing so. If there is something more than he knows that he has to be there for Sarah and do whatever it takes to make this right. Finally the double doors swing open and Sarah comes out and begins to look around for Chuck. As their eyes meet across the room neither one can help but allow a smile to creep across their face. Chuck runs over to Sarah and takes both or her hands in his. "How did the tests go?" he asks.

"Ellie is reviewing everything now and comparing it to some old scans of yours and Morgan's. She also said something about comparing it to some of the research scans she did for your dad's laptop." Sarah replied. "She said we could go home since it will take a while to get everything put together, and with the sensitivity of the whole thing it is probably better we get the results there anyways." Chuck just nodded in agreement walked to the car hand in hand with Sarah.

The car ride was rather quiet. Sarah was driving like a woman on a mission. Chuck was unsure of why the hurry, but if he had learned anything over the past five years it was that you didn't question Sarah's driving. As they pulled in front of the apartment complex they saw Morgan and Alex leaving their apartment. The two couples exchanged greetings and went their separate ways. Alex and Morgan were off to have lunch with Kathleen, Alex's mom. As Chuck unlocked the door to their apartment he held it open for Sarah. Sarah wanted to tell Chuck everything she had decided over the last couple of days. She wanted to let him know how she felt. It was just so hard. It wasn't that is was scary, because honestly it wasn't. Chuck loved her and she knew it. He had done nothing but take care of her. In the memories she had regained he was always the same loving, caring, and generous person she saw now. If this was a mission or a con she could blurt out whatever she needed to get the job done. When it came to the real stuff it just wasn't that easy for Sarah. Too many people had hurt her, or let her down in her life. She knew Chuck would never do that, but it didn't change the fact that this was way out of her comfort zone. As they walked further into the apartment Sarah decided she needed to treat this just like pulling off a band aide quick and to the point. Before she knew what was happening it came out." I love you." Sarah quickly sat on the couch looking at Chuck for any sign of what he was thinking.

Chuck stood there in shock. Sarah had just said I love you, and nothing had ever sounded better. He just looked at her in amazement he had managed to do it again. He Chuck Bartowski had won Sarah Walker's heart for a second time. He slowly approached her and sat down next to her never breaking eye contact. He took her hands in his and continued to just gaze into her eyes. He wanted this moment to last forever. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and never let go. As he continued to look at her he could see a look of concern coming over Sarah. "Sarah. I love you too, and I want you to know that I am here for you always no matter what happens."

Sarah smiled and returned Chuck's gaze. "Yesterday I visited places all around Burbank to see if any memories would come loose. I wanted so bad for everything to come flooding back to me, but it didn't. I got in my car and felt helpless. Then I remembered something. I remembered when the intersect was attacking your brain and something about a tooth. The main part I remembered was sitting right here waiting on you to come home. I thought I was going to lose you and I couldn't do that and I can't do that now. I am saying this now because I want you to know that no matter what Ellie finds, or what memories I do or don't gain back I am not going anywhere." Sarah tried fighting back the tears but just like the beach there was a moment of weakness and a single tear graced her cheek.

Chuck lifted his had to softly wipe away the tear. Then then raised his other hand and took Sarah's face in them. As he stared into her eyes all he could think about was kissing his wife. Yes they had kissed multiple times since the beach, but this kiss would be so much more. This kiss would finally be all his feeling, his hopes his dreams. Everything he wanted was right there in front of him, and now more than ever he knew that she wanted him to. They kissed for what seemed like an eternity. Neither one wanting the moment to end, but finally the need for oxygen won out and they broke the kiss. "Sarah what you just said means more to me than you will ever know. Just knowing that you want this that you want us is all I need. If you never regain another memory it will be ok, because we will be together. What more can a nerd like me ask for."

Their moment was broken up by a knock at the door. "Coming." Chuck said as he straightened his shirt and headed towards the door. When he opened the door he was greeted by his sister. "Hey sis didn't expect to see you so soon. Have the results already?"

"Yes I do." Ellie looked at his brother and then over at Sarah. "Am I interrupting something?" She asked with a little bit of smirk on her face.

"Oh no nothing just catching up on old times." Chuck responded. Ellie noticed both of their faces turning red. "Ok if that is the story we are going with." She said laughing as she walked over and took a seat in the living room. Chuck closed the door and walked over to join them. Sarah and Chuck looked at each other and took each other hands. Ellie looked at her brother and his wife and took a deep breath.

"Well guys I have all the preliminary work done. First thing is all your blood work came back normal so there is nothing to worry about there. As for the intersect it appears to have been removed completely. Your brain scans show no permanent damage and when compared to Morgan's scans from the faulty intersect it all appears to look the same." Ellie paused for a moment to let the couple take it all in.

"If everything looks ok and the scans look to match Morgan's why was the memory loss so drastically different in my case?" Sarah asked.

"That is my next point. I reviewed what I could find of my research from when I worked on our father's lap top. From what I can gather when the intersect activates a flash it pulls the information and the subject pulls it up just like a memory. In Morgan's case he flashed and the intersect pulled up the data and was pulling up random memories with it. In the flash the memory information would get jumbled and lost. What I think happened with you, and I stress think because this is just an educated guess. I think that Quinn used some kind of stimulus to not only force a flash but to force certain memories to come with them. The other difference between you and Morgan was the amount of time everything occurred. Morgan didn't flash often and had large gaps between his flashes so his brain didn't really react to it. You flashed multiple times in a short period of time, so your brain began to protect itself. It kept the information, but with the intersect calling for information it was unable to put it where it goes so to speak. It is like I said earlier your memories are a puzzle. The intersect tried to throw out all the pieces, but your brain kept them it just didn't know where they belonged. That is why I think feelings and emotions are bringing them back. It is allowing them find the right location in the puzzle so to speak. Does this make any sense to you guys, and do you have any questions? Ellie was completely in doctor mode now. She looked over at the two of them on the couch and let them process everything that had been said hoping to be able to answer any questions they might have, but honestly this was all pretty new technology so there was no way to be exact.

"So Sarah should be able to regain all her memories then in time right?" Chuck asked with a glimmer of hope in his voice.

"That is a tough question to answer. There is no way of knowing which memories her brain was able to save and which ones it could not. For all we know she had regained everything that she was able to save or she might have only hit the tip of the iceberg. Only time will tell on that front. In my medical opinion what you guys are doing now is going to be the best medicine. Live your lives and talk about things from your past. Some might bring back memories and some might not, but you guys have each other. Since I am pretty sure I interrupted a make out session when I got here I don't think you guys need much more than each other." Ellie grinned as the last jab came out.

"Oh really funny sis. Just like high school have to embarrass me in front of the girls."

"Did that happen a lot Chuck?" Sarah asked.

"Ah….um….not a lot maybe once or twice. You know I don't really remember much, and none of them were as beautiful as you Sarah." Chuck's ramble was interrupted by the two women breaking out in a huge laugh.

"It is so funny to watch him spiral out of control." Ellie said trying to hold back her laugh.

"Well on that note I think I will return to my room and hide for the rest of the evening." Chuck said as he began to stand up. Sarah quickly grabbed him and pulled him down into a passionate kiss.

"Well I think that is my cue to leave you two love birds alone." Ellie said averting her eyes from the passion occurring in front of her.

"No Ellie you have to stay for dinner. Your flight leaves in the morning and who knows when we will be able to get together again." Sarah said breaking the kiss. Sarah wanted to spend the evening with family and just enjoy their time together. She had gotten good news for the most part. The intersect was gone, and her brain wasn't fried mush. Yes she didn't know if she would ever get everything back, but that didn't matter because right in front of her was everything she needed, a family.

Dinner was a blast. They told stories to Sarah trying to help recall anything they could think off. A few small memories came back, but nothing major. They just enjoyed their wine and each other company. As the evening was winding down Ellie put her doctor hat on one more time. "Sarah, Chuck you guys need to be patient with each other. Memory loss can be very stressful on people. There are going to be times that old habits come out and things might get said that will hurt. You just need to know that you guys clearly love each other and can build on that. Also know that I am just a phone call away. Sarah if you have any questions or anything happens please call me no matter what. You guys will always be family and that is what is most important. With that I think I am going to call it an evening. I don't want to miss my flight, because I miss the rest of my family back in Chicago. Next time you guys get to come to us." Ellie said as she gave both Chuck and Sarah massive hugs. "Chuck can you walk me to the apartment?" Ellie asked.

"Sure Ell." Chuck replied.

Ellie told Sarah goodbye one last time and walked out the door. Chuck followed closely behind and closed the door behind him. "Ok Ellie what do you want to talk to me about that Sarah can't hear?"

"I just want to tell you to take care of her Chuck. She has been through so much, and is going to go through so much more. Her memories might never come back and that is going to be hard. She may never remember your wedding, your first kiss, or any other of the multiple important things you have been through. I know she says she doesn't care, and I know that she really doesn't. But there are going to be times when she will want to remember things, and she won't. Those are the times she is going to need you Chuck. "

"Ellie you know I would do anything for Sarah. I love her and I promise to always be here for her no matter what." Chuck said.

"I know Chuck I just want you guys to be happy and you deserve to be happy. I love you little brother." With that Ellie gave Chuck one last hug and went to get ready to return to her family. Chuck stood in the court yard just looking around. So much had changed over the years, and now it was all changing again. He knew him and Sarah could make it through anything. He pulled out the picture from his wallet one more time. He knew he had to share this with Sarah, but he didn't know how she would react. This picture was everything they had fought for and now more than ever he was going to show Sarah that he was willing to fight for it again no matter what their future held.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Normal disclaimer. I do not own any of the characters portrayed in this story.

As Chuck was walking Ellie to the apartment all Sarah could do was wonder around the apartment taking everything in. All the collection of items and photographs came together nicely. She wondered back to the bedroom. Walking around to her dresser and opening the top drawer. Inside was a small box. She opened the box and slowly withdrew the contents. In her hand she held her wedding rings. She just looked at them. During the mission she had come so close to getting rid of them. She almost treated them like trash, but now as she looked at them they represented everything in her life that was important. She knew it didn't make rational sense, but she wanted to put these rings on she wanted to be Sarah Bartowski. She was only now beginning to regain a sense of herself and in this moment putting her rings back on seemed like the next step rational or not. As she slid them on her finger she felt a sense of relieve come over her. In that moment a memory came crashing down. She was on a balcony in Paris. Chuck was down on one knee when an extraction team came crashing in. She looked down at her rings and remembered the balcony. She couldn't quite remember why their moment had gotten broken up but she knew Chuck had succeeded eventually in proposing to her. As she started to shut the drawer something caught her eye. Sitting there was a charm bracelet. It wasn't anything fancy or even anything she would normally see herself wearing. As she pulled it out another memory hit her. They were in the Buy More and Chuck was placing the bracelet on her wrist. The memory hit Sarah hard as the events of that particular evening came flooding back.

As Sarah was able to regain herself and look at the bracelet again she just smiled. It was a memory of a time before they were together, and even though that was a hard time it showed her that maybe her brain was able to save a good majority of her memories. These were the first big memories to hit her in the last day or so. She knew that this could take a while to know just how many of her memories she would regain, but gaining two more had to be a good start. She placed the bracelet on her wrist and slowly closed the door. She wanted to tell Chuck what she remembered and how she felt. She walked out of the bedroom and looked back. This was their bedroom again. No more sleeping in separate rooms or even taking it slow. It was time to take her life back, and nothing was going to stand in her way.

Chuck came walking in the front door looking for Sarah. As he saw Sarah coming out of the bedroom he again caught himself in a daze. There was just something about this woman that he couldn't help but stare. He was always amazed by her. Yes she was beautiful, brave, strong, and just plain amazing but that wasn't it. It was the fact that when he was with her he felt like there was nothing he couldn't do. "Um…Chuck your staring again." Sarah said with a slight giggle.

"Oh…ya…sorry Sarah I just can't help myself." Chuck replied

"It's ok. I think it is rather cute." Sarah said as she closed the distance between them. "I just had a couple memories come back to me. I remembered when you gave me this." Sarah said showing Chuck the bracelet. "I also remembered when you tried to give me these the first time." Sarah began to smile as she showed Chuck her rings.

Chuck just stared again. She was wearing her wedding rings. "Sarah you have your rings on. Are you sure you are ready for that? What I mean is don't do it for me do it for you. I want you to do what feels comfortable and what you are ready for. You didn't put them on for me did you?" Chuck asked.

"No Chuck. I know it doesn't make sense, because I am just now starting to remember things but you are my husband. Everything inside me tells me that this is the truth, and we are going to get through this together." As Chuck started to talk again Sarah quickly pounced and locked Chuck in a deep and passionate kiss. Sarah slowly decided to break the kiss "I have a better idea of something we can do and it doesn't require any talking." Sarah said as she began to drag Chuck to the bedroom.

"Oh do you now." Chuck replied with a sneaky grin. "I said no more talking mister." Sarah pulled Chuck into another kiss and led him to the bedroom slowly closing the door behind them.

As Sarah lay with her head on Chuck's chest she thought about everything again. It seemed like the thousandth time she had all these thoughts running through her head. Ever since all this began it was the same thing running through her head. How they had got there. What they would do know. It was all just constantly running through her mind. She propped herself up on her elbow to look into Chuck's eyes. "So what's next?"

"I was thinking about getting a drink. I can grab you one if you like?" Chuck replied. Sarah gave Chuck a quick jab to the side. "Ouch what was that for?"

Sarah just rolled her eyes at him and placed her head back on his chest. "You know what I mean Chuck what about jobs, money, and all the stuff that goes with it?"

Chuck then began to explain their plans for CI and all the things that they had already put in motion. He told her about the sale of the Buy More, but how they still owned Castle and the Orange Orange. He told her how they had gotten the money unfrozen from the Decker fiasco and that financially they were in pretty good shape. Heck they were really to a point if they never wanted to work again they could.

Sarah just listened as Chuck explained everything to her. It all seemed so unreal that they had all this money. She reminded herself to ask Chuck later where it all came from in the first place. The whole plan sounded pretty good, and if they were the bosses they could at least do their best to keep themselves out of harm's way. "I think I am going to go get that drink you mentioned. Would you like one?" Sarah asked

"Sure I will take whatever you are having?" Chuck responded with a grin.

As Sarah got up she saw a folded up piece of paper sitting next to Chuck's pants. "What's this?" Sarah asked as she bent down to pick it up.

"That is nothing." Chuck said with a panic as he tried to get up and grab it from her. He knew he wanted to show it to her, but not right now after what they had just finished doing. Chuck tried to take it from Sarah, but she wasn't having it. She kept her body between him and the paper.

"It is obviously something since you are trying so hard to keep it from me. Is it a letter from your girlfriend?" Sarah said jokingly. Sarah was finally able to put enough distance between her and Chuck to get the paper open. As she unfolded the last fold she just stopped and stared at the image in front of her. She saw her and Chuck in front of their dream house holding a baby.

"Sarah don't freak out. It is just something I held onto. I know it is going to take time to get back to wanting that, and I am ok with that. I just wanted to hold onto it and show you that I am here for the long haul no matter what." Chuck finished his words and just looked at Sarah. She was locked on the picture. He wasn't even sure that she had just heard anything he said. "Sarah….Sarah….Sarah…" Chuck kept saying her name with no response. He almost wanted to wave his hand in front of her eyes to see if she was still in there or if shock had set in. Chuck placed his hands on Sarah's shoulders. "Sarah please say something. I am sorry I wanted to show you in better way maybe after a romantic dinner or something." Chuck stopped talking as he saw two small tears start to trickle down her face.

Sarah looked at the image and felt a wave role over her. All this information coming rushing back, Vicky Vale, their first kiss, save you later, Prague, Sarah do you love me, their real proposal, and finally their wedding. It was so much information all at once that it almost caused her to shut down. As she continued to stare at the image her surroundings slowly came back into focus. She could feel Chuck holding her, and she thought she could hear him talking. Everything she had lost came flooding back in a perfect storm. All she could finally muster to get out was "I remember."

"What do your remember Sarah?" Chuck asked with hesitation in his voice. Sarah broke her gaze from the picture and looked up at Chuck. She placed her hands on both sides of his face and kissed him. As she continued to kiss him she only broke their embrace to say one word at a time "I…..remember…..everything." Sarah was finally able to get out. Chuck pulled away from their kiss and lost himself in Sarah's eyes. Then his trademark Bartowski smile gleamed across his face. He swept Sarah up and through her onto their bed. Now in this moment everything was perfect.

As Chuck lay there with Sarah in his arms he just couldn't believe it. Had she really gained everything back? "I should have showed you that picture a lot sooner." Chuck said with a laugh. Sarah thought about what Chuck had just said.

"No Chuck I think you showed it to me at the perfect time. Any sooner and it would have scared me and who knows what would have happened. Right before I showed you my wedding rings I thought to myself that I was through taking things slow that I wanted this and nothing was going to stop me. I think it took everything we did up before that moment to get me ready. I had already accepted a future with you and with whatever else we decided, so when you showed me the picture it allowed all that to come free."

"Well I think we make a pretty good team Mrs. Bartowski." Chuck said.

"I would have to agree there Mr. Walker." Sarah joked as she reached up for a kiss.

The rest of the night was spent in each other's arms just enjoying each other's company. As the hour became late and sleep began to take over they both looked at each other. "I love you Sarah."

"I love you Chuck." With those words they both fell asleep in each other's arms.

As Chuck woke up the next morning he was surprised to see that he was alone in bed. He hoped everything from last night wasn't a dream, but judging from the mess of cloths strung out all over the place it wasn't. He just laid there for a moment to take it all in again. Here he was with his wife and she had regained everything. His smile could light the room. He jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed and went in search of his wife. He walked into the kitchen to see Sarah on a lap top with the picture from last night sitting next to her. "Good morning beautiful." Chuck said as he planted a kiss on top of her head.

"Good morning to you too." Sarah didn't break from her work.

"What are you looking at?" Chuck said before he grabbed a quick bite of Sarah's breakfast.

"Hey that is mine, and if you must know I am looking at houses. I figured since we have all this money now we can live somewhere nice." Sarah replied as she moved her breakfast out of Chuck's grasp.

"What about our dream home Sarah. I know for a fact it is still on the market."

Sarah sat in silence and finally turned to look at Chuck. "After everything that happened in that house and what I almost did to you how could we ever go back there?"

Chuck wrapped his arms around Sarah and kissed the top of her head again. "Sarah I don't want to allow Quinn to take anything from us. He came so close to taking it all and now that we have each other again I want you to be happy. Yes some bad things happened in that house, but I also look at it that house saved my life. Think about it if you didn't see that carving and start to remember you might have gone through with your mission. If you want a different house I completely understand, but let's at least go look at the dream house one last time before we make a decision." Chuck pleaded

Sarah sighed and knew that Chuck was right. She didn't want to let everything that had happened rip there future away from them. She looked at the hand drawn image one more time and knew she had to at least go look at the house.

Chuck and Sarah had run by the apartment to tell Ellie what had happened the night before. The screech she let out alerted the entire court yard to the news. Morgan and Alex shortly joined the festivities and everyone in the group was so happy for Chuck and Sarah. Ellie said her goodbyes one last time and Alex and Morgan offered to take her to the airport, so Chuck and Sarah could make their appointment to see the house. As they pulled in front of the little white house, with the white picket fence, and the bright red door they took each other's hands and walked towards the door.

They slowly entered the house and saw that all the damage had been fixed. The CIA had made quick work to repair the house and show no sign of anyone being there. They walked around the house and took in all the rooms. Sarah finally walked over to the carving in the door frame. She was surprised it was still there. She remembered the night they had carved it and the promise they had made to each other. "Chuck I think you were right. I said I always wanted to remember this moment when we carved our names in the door frame. I can't imagine living anywhere else." Sarah said with a smile.

"Good. I can't either." Chuck replied.

They both looked around the house one last time and new that their future started here. They were ready for whatever would come next, because they would have each other. As they stood in front of their future home holding each other everything seemed perfect. Right here in this moment everything was perfect. Little did they know that everything was about to change. "Beep Beep" Chuck's phone went off. "Hey I have a text from Casey. I bet Morgan and Alex told him the good news." The text was made up of two words and these were two words that were never good CASTLE NOW. "Maybe he wants to congratulate us in person." Chuck laughed.

Sarah just rolled her eyes at Chuck. They both knew something was up and if they wanted their normal life they were going to have to face it head on together.

Sorry for the cliff hanger just wanted to set up the new bad guy. I have had a fun idea about it for a while and would like to explore it. I felt like Chuck and Sarah deserved to find each other first. Hope you enjoyed everything so far and will keep reading. Please review and let me know what you think. I really enjoy and appreciate all the reviews thus far.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Normal disclaimer. I do not own any of the characters portrayed in this story. Please read and review. I am getting into new territory for me creating my own story and not following cannon. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. As always thank you to everyone who had read and reviewed my story so far.

Casey arrived at castle. He was supposed to be off with Gertrude enjoying some good old fashioned R and R, but no he was back in Burbank. Not that the place hadn't grown on him. He knew that he had changed over the past five years, and even though he would never admit it. It was for the better. As he walked down the stairs to castle he couldn't quite believe that he was back already. The last time he had left everything was coming to an end and now he was getting dragged back in. In his haste to return he hadn't even contacted Alex yet. Casey fired up all the systems and began to run a quick system diagnostic. He was sure Chuck hadn't had time to do any of this with everything going on in his life. He wasn't even sure where Sarah was. The last he had seen her she said she needed time to think. He knew he would have to get her involved eventually, but not before touching base with Chuck first.

Casey watched the monitors and was a little surprised to see Sarah's lotus pull in, and then even more surprised to see both her and Chuck climb out. I guess numb nuts was able to win her back. Good for them he thought. They were going to need the whole team to survive this.

Sarah and Chuck did a quick perimeter sweep and they only thing they found was Casey's crown vic. They entered Castle through the freezer entrance in the Orange Orange. Well at least what use to be the Orange Orange it had been closed for renovations for a while now. As they walked down the stairs they saw Casey working on the computer. "Hey Casey what's with all the cloak and dagger stuff? Aren't you supposed to be somewhere doing whatever it is you and Verbanski find romantic?" Chuck said with a little bit of a grin.

"Can it Bartowski we don't have time for pleasantries. Do you mind telling me what she is doing here?" Casey responded.

"Casey she is my wife, and we do everything together." Chuck barked back.

Casey just looked over Sarah. Their eyes were locked into each other. Finally Casey extended his hand towards Sarah. Sarah took Casey's hand and gave him a quick shake. "So what do you remember about me, because I figure you have to remember something to be running around with this nerd." Casey replied.

"I remember everything Casey, and what's with the cold shoulder?" Sarah responded

"Good to have you back Walker. I just wanted to make sure you were on board. Last time I saw you… let's just say you weren't quite yourself. "Casey said.

"Ok good now that we have all that out of the way what is all of this about Casey?" Chuck asked.

"While I was going after Verbanski someone tried to ambush me and I found these on them." Casey threw three pictures out across the table one of each of them. "I figured if they were after us our families wouldn't be save so I headed back here. This is a picture of the guy I got the intel off of. I was hoping you could flash on him and we can get to the bottom of this." Casey handed Chuck his phone with a picture of the assailant in question.

"Ow gross Casey did you have to beat him that bad." Chuck said as he looked at the picture.

"So did you flash on him Chuck?" Sarah looked at Chuck.

"No nothing. He must not be in the intersect. Which is just great where do we go from here?" Chuck had a look of defeat across his face.

"Well I will touch base with some of my contacts and see what I can shake loose. If someone is after us one of them will surely know. I suggest we lay low for a while. I was able to touch base with Verbanski and she has placed details on our families. They will keep a good distance, but will be there if anything happens. I am going to make some calls and check on Alex I will be back as soon as I can. I suggest you guys put some feelers out too." Casey said as he headed up the stairs.

Chuck just looked at Sarah. He couldn't believe of all the horrible timing how could this happen now. Here they were finally back and this new threat had to swoop in. Would they ever be able to get their normal life, or were they destine to always be sucked back into the spy life. "Sarah do you think we should reach out to General Beckman?" Chuck asked.

"I would say it is as good a place as any to start. We know we can trust her and if anyone is going to know what is going on it would be her. I will go grab a few things from the apartment and we can plan on staying here for a little while until we figure this out. I won't be gone long." Sarah reached in and gave Chuck a quick kiss. "I love you." Sarah said as she turned around and headed up the stairs.

Chuck sat in the large conference room when he heard a beep come from the monitor. That is probably the General she always seems to have a way of timing things perfectly he thought as he pressed the power button on the monitor. When the monitor finally came on it was not an image of the general standing in front of him. It was a man about his age with dark hair, blue eyes, and glasses. This man had one of those looks that just screamed evil. He was of slender build and guessing from the size of the image on the screen he was approximately six foot tall. "Good evening Mr. Bartowski. It is so glad to finally meet you." The man said with a hint of a laugh.

"Well since you obviously know who I am do you care to share with me who you are, and what you are doing on my monitor?" Chuck asked as the anger began to build up in his voice.

"Oh Chuck. May I call you Chuck? Let's not dwell on who I am right now when who you are is so much more interesting. Obviously you have already figured out that I am not in that pretty little brain of yours, and yes I know your little secret. I find it fascinating how that the intersect only seems to properly work inside of you. Fulcrum, the ring, Quinn all of them tried to control it and look where it got them. "The man paused as if to create a since of dramatic effect in the room.

Chuck just stared at the screen he didn't want to give this man the satisfaction of any kind of response. He had already started to record the conversation hoping that later he could trace anything from the recording and figure out who this man before him was.

"You see Chuck we have been watching you for quite some time. You could say that we have been testing you. Ever since Bryce Larkin sent you the intersect we have been patiently studying everything that happened with team Bartowski. We even went as far as to nudge some groups in your general direction. You may remember most of them Fulcrum, The Ring, Decker, and yes even Quinn. We will admit that Alexi Volkoff was just an added bonus. You see Chuck my group likes to stay in the shadows. We allow groups like these to do all the dirty work so to speak. We just patiently watch, record, and manipulate where needed. We have no illusion of controlling the outcome we just stack the chips in our favor. Groups like Fulcrum they are predictable. They look for world domination and just throw a huge target on their back. We however like to avoid being the bulls eye." The man just grinned at Chuck as he finished his speech.

"You keep referring to your group and the people you work for do you have a name?" Chuck said fishing for any information that he could gain.

"Oh Chuck. There you go trying to put this on us again when really what we should be talking about is you." The man hit a button and the screen split into multiple screens. On the screens were images of all Chuck's family and friends. "You see Chuck we know every aspect of your life, and we know everyone and everything that you have come into contact with. " The screen flashed back to the image of the man, but this time the laughter and smile had been replaced with a much sterner look. "As you can see Chuck we have every aspect of your life covered. Now don't worry everyone is safe, and we don't wish anyone any harm. Like I said we stay in the shadows. All we want from you is to keep doing what you were doing. Don't stop spying just stay in the game a little longer. We have almost reached and end game bigger than anything you can imagine and you and your team are our greatest weapon." The man again paused giving Chuck time to contemplate everything he just saw and heard.

"You obviously know a lot about me, but I still know nothing about you. I kind of feel at a disadvantage here." Chuck throughout one more attempt trying to get any information out of the man.

"Oh ok. Chuck I will give you a little bit of back ground on us. You asked if we have a name and the simple answer to that is no. We have no name, no identity, and nothing to point to who we are. We work in secret even from each other. The end goal is our only commonality. You see Chuck all a name does is give people something to look for, and we can't have that. I know you started recording this conversation the minute you saw me pop on the screen. When you go to play it back you will realize there is nothing there. There is a worm embedded in this stream that erases any trace of this call the minute it begins. Now to show you exactly who you are dealing with I will let you take your phone out and snap a quick picture of me. Go ahead Chuck I quite enjoy a good picture." The man sat on the edge of a desk and posed for a picture. Chuck grabbed his phone and snapped a few shots. "Now go ahead and hit record and get a few seconds of my voice."

"Why are you giving me this?" Chuck asked.

"You see Chuck I want you to understand something. We are a ghost. We do not exist. The fact that you are even seeing me now should tell you how special you really are. I want you to run my picture, run my voice. Give it to anyone and everyone that will help you. Then as you slowly realize how alone and helpless you are, because you have nothing. You will then have no choice but to listen to me. I know that even now as we speak your brain is trying to come up with something anything to figure out what is going on. The problem is Chuck the group I am with we have been doing this kind of work long before you were born and we will be doing it long after you are gone. The question you have to ask yourself Chuck is do you want to be when you are old and grey or while you are still young and dumb." The man stopped speaking and just stared at Chuck.

"Now what?" Chuck asked trying to keep the fear at bay.

"Well now you do your research. I want you to dig and dig and dig. Leave no stone unturned. When you have looked everywhere you can think of and even the places you haven't dreamed of yet that is when I will be in touch. So Chuck try to find me and when you can't I will call you." With that the screen went black and Chuck was left in silence. Chuck had faced many threats in his life, but something about this one seemed different. None of the others knew anything about him and this man seemed to know everything. How can I fight something when I have no clue who or what they are?

Chuck rushed over to the computers and tried to pull up the conversation he had just had. "Nothing. Damn it." Chuck shouted as he slammed the chair against the desk.

"Everything ok?" Sarah asked as she came walking down the stairs.

"No Sarah. Someone contacted me. I don't know who. He isn't in the intersect and I tried to record the conversation but it is all gone. Sarah he had images of everyone. Ellie, Devon, Clara, my mom, Alex, Morgan, and even Molly and your mother. He said he wouldn't hurt them. "Chuck stopped trying to hold back the fear from his voice. He knew he needed to be strong for Sarah.

"What does he want from us Chuck?" Sarah asked

"Right now he wants us to try to figure out who he is. He challenged us to find any information about him or his group. He said when we couldn't find anything and we had exhausted every option that we had that then he would be in contact with us." Chuck said as he pulled out his phone.

"What do we even have to go on? A picture of one man that they sent after Casey." Sarah was starting to get angry.

"He had me take a few pictures of him with my phone, and even let me record a few seconds of his voice." Chuck handed Sarah his phone to reveal the man in question. Sarah looked at the images and listened to the voice but had no idea who this man was, or what group he worked for.

"Casey should be back any minute. We will run all this by him and come up with a plan as a team." Sarah replied.

Chuck took Sarah in his arms. Right now he didn't know what to think about this new threat, or what their future held. All he wanted to do was hold Sarah. Chuck gently kissed Sarah on the head and whispered "I love you" into her ear.

Sarah sensing Chuck's fear looked into his eyes "We will figure this out. We always do. Team Bartowski will come out on top. I promise Chuck. I love you and nothing is going to get in the way of the family we are going to have." Sarah placed her head on Chuck's chest. Chuck pulled her in tighter. He wished Sarah could have been there when that man came across the screen. Then she would have seen what he did. A confidence and an evil like nothing they had faced before. Yes team Bartowski had overcome insurmountable odds in the past, but would they be able to do it one more time.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thank you again for all the reviews. It is really helpful in the writing process. I have really enjoyed writing this so far. I hope you enjoy this next chapter and I hope to start getting a couple chapters out a week, life permitting. Usual disclaimer: I do not own Chuck or any of its characters. Please read and review. Thanks

It had been almost two weeks since the call. Team Bartowski had searched everywhere for any information on their secret admirer. General Beckman had been no help. She had no Intel on the mystery man and all her contacts had come up dry. Chuck was starring a computer screen in castle. He had run the picture of the mystery man and Casey's attacker through every database he could think of and nothing. How could this be? No one just doesn't exist in today's world. The frustration was staring to build inside of Chuck. How am I supposed to defeat this man and protect my family? That was the only thought that kept running through Chuck's head. He was finally pulled from his work by the sound of a door opening. He looked at the top of the stairs and there was Sarah. She looked beautiful as ever. Even with everything going on she still was able to put a smile on her face when their eyes met.

"Hey beautiful any luck with your contacts?" Chucked asked Sarah

"They've got nothing. It is like this group doesn't exist. In all my years I have never seen anything like this. Yes there have been secret groups, but there were always rumblings and whispers in the back ground. With these guys there is nothing." Sarah said with a hint of frustration in her voice.

"Casey still has a few feelers out and hopefully he will get something soon for us to go on." Chuck said as he turned his attention back to his computer screen. Sarah sat next to him and started to review the information that Chuck was working on.

"Sarah do you really think we are going to be able to survive this? I mean we have been up against it before, but this seems different. Here we are grasping at straws and we still have nothing to show. With the ring and fulcrum we at least new their objective. With this group we know absolutely nothing, and to top it all off they are just playing with us. I feel like we are stuck in a cat and mouse game, and we are the mouse." Chuck said with a hint of desperation in his voice.

"Chuck if I have learned anything from our time together is that you can't under estimate our team. I really wouldn't consider myself and optimist, but with our team I just know we can figure this out." Sarah said as she took Chuck's hands in hers. "We will make it through this Chuck. That big brain of yours will come up with something." Sarah pressed a quick kiss on Chuck's lips and went back to the information in front of her. She knew she was kind of blowing smoke at this point, but she had to be positive. The team needed someone to be and she was more than willing to take on the task.

"That is all the info we have gotten from the General, my mom, and every spy contact we can think of. It is basically a pile of nothing. Rumors and speculation that lead to dead ends and nothing but ghost stories told around the camp fire. The problem with that is even the ghost stories we have can almost all be accounted for or point to other groups." Chuck looked at the info again hoping that something would jump out at him. Just then his phone rang and Casey's picture popped up on the screen.

"Hey big guy any luck on the new bad guy. I see well keep us posted if you come across anything. Sarah and I will be in Castle going over everything. "As Chuck hung up the phone he could feel a since of desperation crawling over him. Casey had nothing, Sarah had nothing, and everyone they knew had nothing. They were right where the man wanted them desperate and in the dark. He had them cornered and Chuck knew it was just a matter of time until the man's evil plan would start to reveal itself.

Just as that thought was running through his mind all the monitors in castle went dark and was replaced with his image. "Hello Chuck. I figured a couple of weeks would be enough time for you and your team to wonder down the rabbit hole. So what did you find?" He asked already knowing the answer. Chuck and Sarah sat in silence neither one wanted to give the man the satisfaction of telling him they had nothing. "Well I will take your silence as a declaration of defeat. I told you that you wouldn't find anything, and now you know just how serious this really is."

Chuck just stared into the man's eyes looking for any kind of emotion or tells. Anything that could give his team the upper hand. "I guess you got us." Chuck replied. "I do have to be honest though always referring to you as the man in the picture is quite annoying any way you could give us a name to go with the face?" Chuck asked.

"Oh Chuck. Here you go again trying to make me the most important part of the conversation when you and your team are the true stars. I want to show you something Chuck." As the man completed his statement his image on the monitor was replaced, but unlike last time it wasn't images of Chuck's family. It was images of people Chuck had met in his life. There was Big Mike, Jeff and Lester, Lou, and even Hannah.

"Why are you showing me this?" Chuck shouted at the screen

"Just more motivation for you Chuck. You see desperate people tend to make desperate decisions. My organization and I have no doubt if you and your immediate family decided to disappear you would be able to do so. You do have four very capable spies at your disposal. Yes it wouldn't be ideal for your sister and her family, or any of you for that matter but it would definitely be an option. So we want you to know that if you run there are plenty of people left for us to come after. You see Chuck your compassion is both your greatest strength and your greatest weakness. The trust and compassion you show in this world is quite admirable and has suited you well over the years, but we are willing to bet that if you found out that….let's pick this one." As the man said this the image of Lou filled the screen. "I know she is just an exgirlfriend and all, but how would you feel if she was killed in a robbery gone wrong. You see Chuck even though you have had no contact with this person in years you still care enough about people that you couldn't live with yourself. What about this one?" The man pointed to the image of Big Mike. "A little something extra in his daily doughnut should do the trick. Now that I have your attention let us get down to some very important business." The man's demeanor changed his playful tone had now been replaced with a stern and forceful one.

Sarah just watched as all of this unfolded in front of her. Her spy training had kicked in and she was looking for anything that could help them with the man in front of her. Confident to the point of arrogant she thought to herself. Maybe this is something we can use. The fine line between confidence and arrogance is something spies have to walk all the time. You must have the confidence to do your job, but not become so arrogant that you become sloppy. Sarah continued to watch as the man showed the images of people Chuck had come into contact with. This group knew everything there was to know about them as a team. They showed images of people that were merely a blip on the radar over the last five years, but there they were on the screen. Their only sin was crossing paths with team Bartowski. Sarah could see Chuck's demeanor starting to change. The fear and desperation that was there earlier was slowly being replaced by anger and determination. She thought back to right before their wedding. She remembered Casey telling her the story of Chuck's and Decker's exchange in the prison. She knew that once you threatened Chuck's family and friends he would do anything to stop you. She was glad to see that anger brewing in Chuck she knew they were going to need it if they were to survive this.

"My husband asked you a question, and since you obviously are avoiding it I think it only fair that I ask it again. What is your name?" Sarah asked knowing that she was poking the bear a little bit.

"I am so sorry. I almost forgot you were there. I get so involved in my conversations with Chuck here I forget about anything else. I will tell you the same thing that I told him. I am of no importance. I am just the messenger and your team is the true star of our show. "The man grinned at Sarah and then moved back to Chuck.

Sarah decided it was time to press and see what if anything she could get from the man. "You say you are just a messenger and we are the stars then why don't we get to talk to the real brains of the operation? I have dealt with lackeys like you in the past and all they do is get in the way. Why don't we cut out the middle man and talk to the boss." Sarah said with a grin on her face.

The man on the screen just went quiet. Sarah could tell his pride had just taken a blow, and that is what she was going for. She knew it was a risk, but it was one she felt like she had to take. She couldn't sit back anymore and watch this man threaten anyone and everyone in their lives. The man just stared at Sarah as if he was contemplating what to do next. Finally an evil smirk crept across his face. "So I am just a nothing to you. An insignificant pawn on your chess board. Well how about a demonstration of what I am capable of." Just then an image of Sarah's father appeared on the screen. Sarah couldn't tell where he was or what he was doing, but she could tell it was him. The way he carried himself, the mannerisms when he spoke, and the way he smiled. It was definitely him.

"You see Sarah with the flick of a button I could end him right now. All I have to do is make the call and bang it's over. Let's see how insignificant you think I am after I hit this button right….here." he pressed the button and on the screen you could see two bullets strike the wall behind her father. He quickly covered himself and ran.

"Stop. Please stop. Just don't hurt him." Sarah pleaded. This group really knew everything about them if they were able to locate her father.

"You see Sarah. I had my man miss. Just a couple inches to the left and you would have had a funeral to plan. But as luck would have it I don't have time for you to do that right now. I have some business to get to. I will tell you what how about you call me Mr. Smith if that makes you guys feel better and we can move on from this nonsense of who I am and what I want." His arrogant grin had returned and looked at Sarah and looked at Chuck and just continued to smile at them.

"Ok now that we have all that settled we can move on to business. Tomorrow morning you will receive an envelope with everything you need to know about your mission. Times, dates, parties involved, you know all the fun spy stuff. You complete your mission and no one gets hurt it is that simple. You fail to complete you mission well then someone you know won't get to see much more of this beautiful world. I will be in touch. Oh and Chuck…Good luck." Mr. Smith just smiled and just as when he appeared the screens went black and he was gone.

"Sarah what were you thinking pushing him like that you could of gotten someone killed." Chuck was freaking out over the events that had just unfolded in front of him.

"Chuck. Calm down. I tried to push him to see if I could get him to slip up. I didn't figure he would hurt anyone, because he still needs our cooperation and he knows that if he hurt someone over something as small as pressing his authority he wouldn't be able to control us with fear much longer." Sarah said almost trying to convince herself as much as Chuck.

"What did I miss?" Casey said as he walked down the steps. Chuck and Sarah just stared at him.

"Come on you two. Put your lady feelings aside and just tell me what happened." Casey said.

Sarah explained to Casey everything that had transpired when Mr. Smith had contacted them. She also informed him about the upcoming mission.

"So what is our play? Do we go through with the mission or do we try to come up with an exit strategy?" Casey asked.

"I think we have to plan on doing the mission. There is no way we can protect everyone and there is no way that we can come up with an exit strategy by tomorrow." Chuck replied.

"I agree with Chuck, but I do think we have to start working on an exit strategy of some kind. We know absolutely nothing about these people and they know everything about us. "Sarah tried to continue her with her thought, but Chuck quickly interrupted her.

"That is it Sarah." Chuck grabbed Sarah's face and gave her a giant kiss. "We have been going about this all wrong. We have been digging into who this Mr. Smith is when we should really be digging into our lives." Chuck said.

Casey and Sarah just looked at Chuck like he was nuts. "What are you talking about?" They said in unison.

"You both said that they know everything there is to know about us. How is that? They have to have bugs, cameras, people, and who knows what else gathering information on us all the time. If we can find common links in all of our lives and our friend's lives then maybe just maybe we can use that information to track this group down. I know it is a long shot, but it is the only shot we have." Chuck was excited he finally felt like he had something that he could sink his teeth into.

"Ok calm down Bartowski, before you going getting all excited let's start doing some digging and see what we can find. In the mean time we need to be ready for whatever this mission is tomorrow. I doubt we are going to be able to figure all this out by then. We are probably going to have to get our hands dirty. We need to figure out a way to secretly keep Beckman and your mom in the loop. Whoever this group is obviously has friends in high places. "Casey said.

"You are right. I will set up a secure network for Beckman and my mom to be able to contact us on. I also say we try to keep as much of our communication the face to face variety. I will do some research tonight and then we should all get some rest, because who knows what they have in store for us tomorrow." Chuck replied.

With all this the team started to prepare for whatever Mr. Smith and his group had in store for them. They still knew nothing about this group or their ultimate objective, but at least now they had something to run with.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: What to thank everyone for their reviews. They really help and I appreciate all of them. I also want to give a special thanks to michaelfmx for his beta services on this chapter. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. The exciting stuff will start next chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.

Chuck had been searching through their lives almost the entire night. He could feel the pressure building. The mission details would arrive in the morning. What if it was something they didn't want to do? All the possibilities were running through his mind: assassination, robbery, blackmail, kidnapping, and these were just a few of the horrible possibilities. As he sat at the computer continuing to dive down the rabbit hole the world around him faded away. He was determined as ever to figure out who these people were and what they wanted with him and the team. Chuck then felt a slight touch on his shoulder which caused him to jump, and much higher then he would like to admit. "Holy crap Sarah you scared me."

"Chuck come to bed. It's late and we have a mission tomorrow. I know you want to figure this out but you need your rest as well," Sarah said as she began to rub Chuck's shoulders.

"I know Sarah, it just that I feel so helpless right now. What if the mission is something we can't do, or won't do? Then what? I don't know how to deal with Mr. Smith and his organization when we know nothing about them or their goals," Chuck said as he turned back to his computer.

"Chuck I know that you are scared. I am too. The problem is you can kill yourself tonight digging for information and tomorrow when the mission comes someone could actually kill you. You need some rest. We can figure out the mission tomorrow. If it is something we aren't comfortable with we will figure out a way to get the results Mr. Smith wants in a manner that we are ok with." Sarah grinned at chuck hoping to calm his nerves.

"Give me just a little bit longer. I'm looking at anyone that has come into contact with us over the last couple of years. There has to be something here," Chuck said as he turned back to his computer.

Sarah continued to rub Chuck's shoulders and then began to slowly move her hands through his hair. She continued her magic as she gently started to kiss Chuck's neck.

"I thought you said I needed some rest?" Chuck asked.

"Well if I can't get you to bed for rest maybe I can find another way to motivate you to get away from your computer," Sarah said in a sultry tone.

"You are so bad Mrs. Bartowski." Chuck slowly closed his laptop and turned to face his wife.

"I know Mr. Bartowski, but I do feel like it is part of my job description, to make sure my husband is well rested." Sarah took Chuck's hand and slowly guided him to their bedroom. She knew that they both needed this. They needed time together away from the mission and thoughts of Mr. Smith. They were stuck in a war and she knew things were going to get tough, but right now she just wanted to be with her husband. As Sarah turned to Chuck she saw him looking down at his phone. No doubt continuing to look for any connection he could possibly find. Sarah reached over and grabbed the phone from his hands. "I suggest you take your hands off that and put them to better use," Sarah joked.

"I see. Well let's see what better uses I can come up with." Chuck turned to his wife and took her in his arms. He gently guided her into the bedroom closing the door behind them. Right now, in this moment, they were just husband and wife. They weren't spies caught in the grasp of and evil madman, which was exactly what both of them needed.

Sarah woke to find that Chuck was nowhere in sight. She slowly rolled over and let out a Casey like grunt. Last night had been magical, and for just a moment they were normal. There was no spy world, no missions, and definitely no Mr. Smith. In that moment they had everything they wanted. Now, lying alone in bed, she was reminded how quickly they had been thrown back in.

"Will we ever be able to escape this?" she thought to herself? Every time we think we are out something comes along and pulls us back into the shadows. "The last time we almost lost it all. I can't let that happen," Sarah thought. Here, in this moment, she promised herself that she would do anything and everything to protect Chuck and the family that they both deserved. As Sarah began to get out of bed she heard the loud crashing of what sounded like kitchen pans. She leapt to her feet and grabbed her trusty Smith and Wesson. She ran through the bedroom door gun at the ready. When she turned the corner into the kitchen she found Chuck cleaning up. "What's going on out here?" Sarah asked as she lowered her weapon.

"I was hoping to surprise you with breakfast in bed, but you can see how well that is going." Chuck just smirked and finished picking up everything that he had dropped.

"That's sweet Chuck. How about I help you and we eat breakfast together," Sarah just laughed as she took the eggs from Chuck's hands.

The couple made their breakfast and just enjoyed each other's company. Neither one wanted to breach the subject of Mr. Smith. They both knew once they went down that road they weren't going to be able to turn back. Instead they enjoyed their food and enjoyed the normalcy of a happy married couple. As they cleaned up the breakfast mess they heard a slight knock at the door. Sarah quickly grabbed her gun. Chuck went to the couch and grabbed his tranq gun from underneath the seat.

Suddenly Sarah had a memory of running to the door with a gun to discover that it was just the paper being delivered. She remembered the conversation that followed, the one to quit spying. She fought back a tear thinking about this. Here they were going to the door guns blazing and no closer to the family they both wanted. Sarah quickly stopped herself and readied her weapon. She knew that dream could still become a reality, but they needed to survive all of this first.

Chuck looked over at Sarah and waited for her signal. She slowly nodded and Chuck began to open the door making sure to cover himself the entire time. As the door slowly swung open the couple quickly realized no one was there. The only thing present was an envelope tapped to the door. This was obviously their mission from Mr. Smith. Chuck looked around the courtyard hoping to catch a glimpse of the delivery man, but there was no one in sight. He quickly removed the envelope from the door and closed it behind him. On the envelope were the words "Team Bartowski". Chuck looked at the envelope and then looked at Sarah. They both knew what this meant. The war between them and Mr. Smith had begun and there was no turning back now. They were going to have to see this to the end.

"I think we should take this to Castle and wait for Casey to open it," Chuck suggested.

"I agree. Let's get dressed and head to castle. We can call Casey on the way," Sarah said as she turned to head to the bedroom.

Chuck and Sarah arrived at Castle. They were not at all surprised to find that Casey was already there. "Looks like Casey was the early bird this morning," Chuck joked.

"I bet he slept here. Would you want to sleep in an apartment with your daughter and her boyfriend?" Sarah joked.

They both laughed and headed into Castle. As they went down the stairs they could see that everything was up and running. When they reached the bottom of the stairs they saw Casey working away at one of the computers. Then they were both shocked when they heard a set of voices coming from the hall. Out walked Morgan and Verbanski. They were in the middle of a heated discussion that seemed to be focused on Morgan's role in the mission.

"Hey buddy about time you got here," Morgan said as he caught Chuck and Sarah walking down the stairs.

"What are you doing here Morgan?" Chuck was puzzled as to why Morgan was here. Verbanski he understood, but he thought they were trying to keep the family out of this one.

"Casey came over last night and filled me in about everything. Then he said I played a pivotal role in the success of team Bartowski so I should be a part of this mission," Morgan said as a large smile appeared across his face.

You could hear Casey's grunt from a mile away. "Slow down there moron. I told you and Alex what was going on to help keep you safe. Then you decided that we needed you, and I just didn't feel like arguing. I figured we could always use someone to stay behind in Castle and clean or something," Casey joked.

"Ha ha real funny big guy. You know you guys need me and that is why I am here to help. So what do you have there?" Morgan asked.

"This is the envelope that Mr. Smith delivered with our mission info," Chuck stated. Chuck placed the envelope on the conference table. He looked around and saw everyone there. It was still hard to believe that they were all back together in this world again. He wanted to send Morgan away to keep him safe, but he knew they needed as many hands as they could get. He figured he could always tell him to stay in the van, since that had worked so well in the past for the team.

"I say we open it up and get it over with. The suspense is killing me," Morgan joked as he reached for the envelope.

"Hold on there moron. We are going to screen this thing first. Who knows what's in there and I'm not going to explain to my daughter that her boyfriend got his hands blown off because he opened an envelope," Casey grunted as he grabbed the envelope. Casey scanned the envelope for anything and everything and it came back clean. He took the envelope and handed it to Chuck. "Figured you should open it since Mr. Smith seems to have a little bit of a crush on you," Casey said as he handed Chuck the envelope.

"Good one Casey. Let's get down to business," Chuck replied as he slowly opened the envelope.

Inside the envelope was a cell phone, a map, a picture, and a file. As Chuck looked at the image he could feel a flash coming on. Instantly he was hit with a wealth of information about the man in the image. "Wow, I don't think I will ever get used to that," Chuck said as he came out of his flash.

"Well what did you get?" Sarah looked at Chuck and waited to hear what he had to say.

"Yes, well his name is Viktor Orlov. He is an arms dealer by trade, but occasionally he dabbles in human trafficking, drugs, you know all the good wholesome stuff. He is former KGB and was highly decorated until a mission went sideways and he was forced to run. He lives here in L.A. and owns multiple night clubs as fronts for his criminal organization." Chuck gasped as he finally took a breath after the flash and following rant.

"Ok, now that we know the who, time to move on to the what," Casey said as he reached over and grabbed the file folder from the table.

"Looks like Mr. Smith here wants us to intercept one of Viktor's shipments, and deliver it to a warehouse," Casey continued to read the file.

"Well that's not so bad. At least we don't have to kill anyone." Chuck let a nervous smirk creep across his face.

"Ya but we have no idea what is in this shipment or who we are handing it over too," Sarah replied.

"Before we get way ahead of ourselves, let's look over all the information. We can see if braniac over here flashes on anything else, and come up with a game plan," Verbanski commented.

Everyone looked around the room at each other and nodded. They knew that they needed to process every piece of this information. They needed to come up with a plan to accomplish Mr. Smith's goals and then they could work on adding some of their own goals to the mix. The team had been going over all the information and doing research of their own when the cell phone from the package started to ring. Chuck let out a slight chuckle when the ringtone was the Imperial Death march from Star Wars. "Well I guess we know Mr. Smith has a sense of humor," Chuck smirked as he picked up the phone.

"Hello," Chuck answered the phone and waited for a response.

"Hello Chuck. Glad to see you got my delivery. As you can tell from the information I have given you this isn't much different from when you were running missions for that General of yours. As you have probably seen in the file the shipment is scheduled for a week from today. All you have to do is grab the shipment and deliver it to the drop off point. I would prefer for this to happen as inconspicuously as possible. Don't want fire fights in the news and all, but you are the expert so do what you must. Chuck, I just called to see if you like this new song I heard." Just then Mr. Smith's voice was replaced by the unmistakable sound of Jeffster. "You see Chuck, it's a song from this new band in Germany. I think you know them. Just wanted to remind you what you were playing for. Talk to you later Chuck." And then he was gone. Chuck stood there in horror as the group around him looked on. Mr. Smith was just toying with them. Chuck knew the missions were never going to stop and that whatever this group's final plan was would ultimately end badly for everyone he cared about.

Team Bartowski spent the next few days doing recon and formulating a plan. Mr. Smith had given them a pretty detailed description of everything in the operation, but they wanted to verify it for themselves. For all they knew this entire mission was a trap for them. All the Intel checked out and the plan was ready. The shipment was coming in via cargo ship and had to sit in customs at the dock. Viktor had someone on the take in customs to ensure that his shipment was not bothered. Chuck, Sarah, Casey, and Verbanski would infiltrate the dock and locate the shipment. There they would swap tags with a bogus shipment they had set up. Then in the morning, they would be able to drive right in and pick up the shipment. Not leaving anything to chance, Chuck hacked the dock's database and created credentials for Sarah and himself so they could stay with the shipment. Morgan would be monitoring the entire mission from the van, watching for any surprises. It really was a simple mission. They knew all four of them going in was overkill, but with Mr. Smith in play they weren't going to leave anything to chance.

The day of the mission was quickly approaching and the team was leaving nothing to chance. They had gone over every detail of the plan a million times. They agreed to take a little break and reconvene back at Castle for one last walk through. Morgan went home to spend some time with Alex. Casey and Verbanski decided the gun range was calling their name. Chuck and Sarah decided on a nice lazy afternoon together at Echo Park.

After their well-deserved break they all met back at Castle to go over the plan. Chuck began going over the plan in great detail. They would infiltrate the dock immediately following the delivery of the package. Casey and Verbanski would head to the security office and loop the feeds, hiding the team's movements. Chuck and Sarah would head for the shipment and place the new tags on the crates. They would then place multiple trackers on the crates in hopes of discovering where Mr. Smith was taking the merchandise. Chuck and Sarah would then place the crates for the original shipment on whatever they could find in case Viktor showed up for his items ahead of time. Then they would wait for the pickup window to arrive and Casey would show up with a truck and load the shipment. As the team went over the mission it just seemed too easy. They knew there was more to it, but they just couldn't figure out what it was yet. Just as the meeting was coming to a close the phone from Mr. Smith began to ring. This time Chuck was ready he had tracking software set up and was hoping to catch a location for the call.

"Hello Mr. Smith. How are you today?" Chucked asked with a strained look on his face.

"Chuck it is so good to hear your voice. I just wanted to check in and see how the planning was going," Mr. Smith asked

"It's going well, we're ready to go. What exactly are we stealing for you?" Chuck was stalling. He knew his software needed time to be able to track Mr. Smith's phone.

"Oh Chuck that's not your concern. You just grab the shipment and delivery it to the drop off point. My men will take it from there. Chuck, don't try any funny business. I would hate to have to get your friends' blood on my new suit. Bye now." Mr. Smith chuckled just as the phone call disconnected.

Chuck quickly went to his computer to check the tracking software. He was unable to get a location but was able to hack Mr. Smith's camera phone with a bug that was running with his software. He brought up the image just in time to see Mr. Smith's face. Mr. Smith put his finger in front of his face as he moved it side to side. "Bad boy Chuck, trying to hack my phone. You are better than I thought. You almost got me," Mr. Smith said. Just then the phone dropped to the ground and the next image was of Mr. Smith's foot smashing the phone.

Chuck's blood began to boil. This man always seemed to be one step ahead of him. Chuck threw his chair across the room. "Damn it. Again he's one step ahead of me. How is he always one step ahead?" Chuck's anger was beginning to take over when he felt the soft touch of Sarah's hand on his shoulders.

"Chuck it's ok. We'll figure this out," Sarah tried to calm Chuck down.

"Sarah, I just don't know. This is different. He knows everything about us. He has been studying us for years and he knows our habits, how we think, and God knows what else. I just don't know if we can come out of this one unharmed." Chuck looked around the room at the team. He could tell everyone was worried. Hell even Casey had the look. That look of what and who the hell are we up against.

"The mission is tomorrow. We'd better all get some rest. I can't imagine this mission is only what he has shown us. There is going to be more and we need to be prepared for it," Casey said, breaking the silence.

"Ok see everybody here tomorrow, and be prepared for anything," Sarah replied.

Morgan, Gertrude, Casey, Sarah, and Chuck all looked at each other for a moment before ascending the stairs to leave. This wasn't the usual demeanor of the team. They were feeling the pressure and the odds stacking up against them. This group was like nothing they faced before and they knew they we in for a war.

Meanwhile Mr. Smith looked down at what was left of his phone. He knew how close Chuck had come to gaining some information on him. He couldn't afford to make a mistake now. They were so close to achieving their goals. A mistake like that would cost him his life, and he really wasn't ready to part with it. He walked over to his desk and powered up his computer. His computer came on to a black screen with just a blinking cursor. The words " **Status report** " appeared on the screen.

 **Everything is going according to plan. Chuck and his team are ready to proceed with their mission.**

 **What about your half of the mission?**

 **My team is in place and ready to accept the shipment.**

 **Very good. Will your team be able to accomplish the rest of their objectives tomorrow?**

 **Yes, I have no doubt my team will succeed.**

 **I hope you are right. I would hate to have to terminate our relationship so soon.**

With that the computer screen went dark. Mr. Smith just starred at it for what seemed like an eternity. He knew his team was prepared, but the intersect and his team had proven to be formidable foes in the past. He just hoped that the outcome would come out in his favor tomorrow. He reached into his top drawer and pulled out a bottle of scotch and a glass. "We'd better come out on top tomorrow", he thought. He then took a hefty drink and sat in silence. Tomorrow couldn't be over soon enough.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: First thank you for all the reviews. They are really helpful in moving the story forward. Sorry for the delay in an update. Went out of town for the weekend and was unable to work on the story. Hope everyone enjoys the new chapter. Also big thanks to michaelfmx for his beta reading and editing services. It was a tremendous help. I don't own Chuck or any of its characters.

The mission at the dock had proceeded without a single hiccup. That was no surprise to everyone. They figured the fireworks from Mr. Smith would occur during the drop off. The crates were filled with your run of the mill weapons and ammunition. Nothing extremely dangerous. Yes, it was more fire power than any madman would ever need, but at least they weren't handing over something worse. They had split up into three vehicles for the transport to the drop off point. Sarah and Chuck were leading the way in the Lotus followed by Casey in the transport truck. Morgan and Verbanski were bringing up the rear in the communications van. "Keep your eyes peeled for whatever Mr. Smith has up his sleeve. There is no way this is a simple smash and grab job," Casey said over the radio.

Everyone was on high alert. They knew there was a surprise lurking around the corner. They just didn't know what it would be or which corner it would come from. As they got closer to the drop off location the phone from Mr. Smith began to ring. "What do you want," Chuck answered.

"I see everything is going according to plan. According to my team you should arrive at the drop site in approximately ten minutes. When you arrive, drive into the building from the north side. Now don't go running off after you drop of the merchandise. I would hate for you to leave before I get to see you." Then Mr. Smith disconnected the call.

"Everyone, be prepared. Mr. Smith will be at the drop site. Morgan, when we arrive let Verbanski out and you drop back to a safe distance." Chuck wanted to ensure that Morgan would be safe.

"But Chuck I can help," Morgan replied.

"I know you can Morgan, but we need someone to stay back if this goes sideways. If you don't hear from us within the hour then you get hold of General Beckman and give her everything." Chuck knew this whole thing smelled like a trap, but what choice did he have.

As Team Bartowski approached the drop off location, they saw they empty warehouse. They had scoped it out multiple times over the past week and it appeared to be nothing but the standard abandoned warehouse. They stopped just shy of the warehouse to allow Verbanski to join Casey. Once they had switched vehicles the Lotus and transport truck proceeded to the drop off location. Morgan kept the van back and began to set up the surveillance equipment. "Ok guys there is the door on the north side of the building. Looks like it's open and waiting for us," Sarah commented.

"Looks rather inviting doesn't it," Casey said in a mocking tone.

As they pulled into the warehouse everything was dark except for the light created by their headlights. They had prepared for this. The box truck they were using to transport the shipment was armored and armed to the teeth. Once they had cleared the overhead door it slowly began to lower. As the last of the light disappeared behind the door they couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen next. Then the warehouse lit up and they could see everything. It looked exactly the same as it did on their recon missions. Then Mr. Smith's voice came from an overhead speaker system. "Good afternoon Team Bartowski. I am so pleased to finally get to meet the entire team. Please don't be shy. Why don't you all step out of your vehicles," Mr. Smith said with a slight hint of a chuckle in his voice.

They all slowly stepped out of their vehicles. Quickly, they swept the area for anything out of the ordinary. The warehouse was a large empty room. Along the far wall was a staircase that lead to a small office area overlooking the warehouse floor. "So nice to finally meet you Colonel Casey. I had already met the other two members of your team and now I finally get to meet the third. Who is that with you? Gertrude Verbanski? I see the team has gained a fourth member, or should I say fifth. I am sure Mr. Grimes is around here somewhere. Probably hiding out in the van no doubt." Chuck was starting to get tired of Mr. Smith's voice.

"We delivered the goods and no one is the wiser to what we've done today. Why don't you quit with all the pleasantries and let's get down to business," Chuck said trying to contain his anger.

"Oh, ok Chuck. I was just trying to be polite and formally introduce myself to everyone. I am sure they have all heard of me by now, but it is only proper to formally introduce yourself once you finally meet someone. Please place the truck in the center of the floor and come and join me in the office at the top of the stairs." Then the loud speaker went quiet.

"Everybody on their toes. There is no way Mr. Smith is in there by himself." Sarah was starting to feel the nerves of the mission. There was just something about all of this that didn't sit right with her. Mr. Smith was always one move ahead and she knew that today would be no different. They still had no idea who he worked for and what they wanted.

As the group climbed the stairs they were all prepared for a fight. At the top of the stairs was a large office door. Above the door was a nameplate with the name 'Mr. Smith' engraved on it. The team just looked at each other. Casey finally broke the silence with his trademark grunt. Chuck and Sarah took one side of the door while Casey and Verbanski approached the other side. Casey and Sarah exchanged a glance signaling they were ready. He then proceeded to count to three using his fingers. When the last finger dropped Sarah threw the door open and Casey and Verbanski stormed in. The room was empty except for a monitor in the center. "Well that's new," Chuck stated. Just then the monitor powered on and Mr. Smith's face was front and center.

"Sorry to have to communicate with you via monitor again, but you know you can never be too careful these days. I want to thank you for a timely delivery and also thank you for keeping it quiet. It is so hard to find good help these days, so when you finally do you want to take the time to thank them." Mr. Smith just smiled at everyone in the room. He had them right where he wanted them. He pressed a button in front of him and the door to the room swung shut. "You see Chuck, I needed to get your team together in one place for a final test. My group needs to see one last audition of your skills. Everything you've done with the Intersect has been very impressive, but what we are going to ask you to do might be out of its realm of ability. In a moment another door is going to open. You and your team can choose to proceed however you want, but just know that on the other side the test begins." Mr. Smith just continued to smile at the team.

"What test are you talking about, and why did you lock us in the room?" Chuck yelled as his blood began to boil. He was growing tired of all the games and lies.

"There is only one way for you to find out," Mr. Smith laughed as a door began to open. Then his face was replaced with a timer. "You see Chuck you have one hour to get to the end of the test and shut off the bomb. If not the whole facility will go boom with you still inside. That would be a definite shame since we have invested so much time watching you. But if you can't pass this test you wouldn't be much use to us anyway. Well with that I bid you adieu. Good luck Chuck hope to see you on the other side."

Chuck quickly looked at the timer on the monitor. "Well, I guess we don't have much choice but to see where this leads," Chuck said. The team knew they were walking into a trap from the very beginning but they had a few surprises up their sleeves as well. Hopefully, if they could survive this test, they would come out with some information. The team looked around the room one last time and quickly went through the door. The door closed behind them sealing them in.

Flash back: Two days before the mission.

Chuck and the team were in a secure room. Chuck had designed this room when they took over castle with Carmichael Industries. The room was designed to allow no form of surveillance in or out to work.

"Ok Chuck what's with dragging us all in here?" Casey inquired with a grunt.

"Guys, I have been digging and digging to find out more about Mr. Smith and his group. I have looked through the little we know about them, and even going as far as to look at everything in our lives. I haven't been able to find a damn thing. It's like they don't exist. They know everything about us and we know nothing about them. To survive this we are going to have to change the playbook a little bit," Chuck said with trepidation. He knew what he was about to suggest would not go over well, but what choice did he have?

"So what are you suggesting?" Sarah asked.

"Morgan, you are going to have to go in with us." Chuck knew this was a risk, but he also knew it was something Smith would never see coming.

"What the hell are you thinking Bartowski?" Casey yelled. "There is no way Grimes is going in on a mission like this. We have no idea what we are up against and what hell we would be getting him into."

"Why can't we call in your mom Chuck? She is trained and better equipped to handle a mission. No offense Morgan," Sarah stated.

"We can't call my mom in. Mr. Smith is watching and if we bring her in he would expect her to be part of the mission. They thing he would never expect us to do is send in Morgan. Morgan I hate asking you to do this. It's the last thing I want to do, but I don't see any other choice. I need someone that I can trust and that Smith will never see coming." Chuck was pleading not only to his friend, but to the whole team. The way he saw it they were all in danger and he knew Morgan would do anything to protect them.

"Chuck, you can count me in. You know I'll do anything for the team," Morgan answered.

"Hey moron, what are you going to tell Alex? She doesn't want you near any of this stuff and you are going to go charging in blind," Casey said.

"Alex was in those pictures Smith showed us, and I will do anything to protect her Casey. I love her and if you think I am going to sit in the damn van when there is something I can do to keep her safe you are crazy," Morgan yelled.

Casey just looked at the little bearded troll in front of him. This was twice now that he had stood up to him. He had reminded Casey how important the team and his family had been during the Quinn mission. He would never admit it to Morgan, but he was starting to respect the little guy.

"Fine then, what is Grimes part in all of this?" Casey asked.

"When we approach the drop site we'll go over coms and talk about splitting up. We'll give every appearance that we are leaving Morgan in the van. Casey you will pull up beside the van to let Gertrude join you. Morgan, that is when you will drop down the hatch in the back of the van and roll over underneath the transport truck. There will be a hatch there for you to open. The hatch will open directly into a crate that will prevent you from being detected. The truck is designed to keep you hidden as well, but just in case they open it up the crate will hide you in plain sight," Chuck said.

"What's with all the cloak and dagger stuff, Chuck?" Morgan asked.

"Morgan, Mr. Smith has always been one step ahead of us. We have to do something he doesn't expect and we have to always assume he is watching. Once we are in the warehouse you will wait for my signal. I will let you know when Mr. Smith is engaged with us and that is when you go into action," Chuck said with a grin.

Back to present time.

"What test are you talking about, and why did you lock us in the room?" Chuck yelled as his blood began to boil. He was growing tired of all the games and lies.

Morgan knew that was his signal. He quickly jumped out of the crate he was hidden in. He had to be quick. He had no idea how long until Smith's men would find him. He began working on the crates they had taken from the dock. Sarah and Chuck had placed trackers on the crates at the dock, but those were decoys. They figured Mr. Smith would be watching and they wanted him to think they were done with the shipment. Now inside the van Morgan could put the true plan to work. He placed special tags on the shipments. These tags were designed to be undetectable. They were shut off and wrapped in a protective layer, that way they would not give a signal off. Inside the tag was a small analog timer that once it hit zero would kick on the tag for a one time GPS ping. The tags were all set to different times. It would give the team a route they took to the wherever they ended up.

They knew it wasn't an exact science. The tags could all go off before Smith's men reached their destination, but it would give them an area to look. Once Morgan was done placing the tags he got back in his crate. All he could do now was wait and hope that no one had spotted him.

The room that Chuck and the others were now in was nothing special. There was an L shaped desk in the corner with what looked to have about an inch of dust on it. The only other furniture in the office was a desk chair and a large filling cabinet.

"What are we supposed to do in here?" Casey asked with a hint of frustration.

"Spread out and look around for anything out of the ordinary or anything that looks like it doesn't belong." Chuck just hoped that whatever it was they were looking for wouldn't take long. He had synchronized his watch with the timer to ensure that they would know when the bomb would go off.

"I am pretty sure this isn't a normal filing cabinet," Sarah exclaimed

As she pulled open the top drawer of the filling cabinet, she quickly realized that they weren't drawers at all but a false front. Sarah quickly removed the false front to reveal a large metal panel. There appeared to be nothing on the panel. Chuck turned to look and was hit with a flash. "Ok this is a new security door that is in development for use in government facilities. There are hidden buttons throughout the panel that have to be hit in a precise order." Chuck made quick work of the panel. A large green L.E.D light appeared at the top of the panel. Just then the sides of the filling cabinet sucked back into the walls and the security panel dropped into the floor. Now where there was once a filing cabinet there was a large hole in the floor with a ladder leading down.

Casey snapped a large glow stick down the hole. It revealed it was a shaft of some kind that lead to a room. "I'll drop down and drop a flash grenade. If anybody is waiting for us at the bottom that should wake them up," Casey said.

Casey dropped the flash bang and quickly dropped into the room scanning for anything. It was a small empty room that had a hallway attached. He signaled the all clear and everyone quickly joined him in the room. They took the hallway which lead to another door. They cautiously opened the door and found a room that was similar to the office they had just left. "Here we go again," Verbanski stated.

All the succeeding rooms led to the same thing. There would be some kind of security measure that needed to be bypassed for the team to proceed on. After each test they would find either another stairway or hallway leading to the next room. The team's nerves were really on edge as the timer only had fifteen minutes left. "How many more of these damn tests can there be?" Chuck asked in frustration.

"Chuck we have to just keep pressing on. There is no turning back now," Sarah said trying to calm everybody's nerves.

"We scanned this building with satellites, heat, and every other piece of technology we had and none of this showed up. How is it that they could hide all of this in plain sight?" Casey inquired.

"Doesn't really matter now on the how and why? All that matters is that we are running out of time to get to the end of this before the whole place goes boom," Verbanski added.

The team then came to another door. They separated into pairs and went to both sides of the door. Casey quickly threw the door open and Sarah scanned the room.

"I can't see much it is to dark. There appear to be to concrete barricades about five yards past the door," Sarah yelled.

The team began to advance when a bright light hit them. "Everybody take cover now," Casey commanded. Just then, shots began to ring out throughout the room. They were under heavy fire and, with the light blinding them from the other end; they had no way of knowing what they were up against. The team then quickly took cover behind the barricades Sarah had detected earlier.

"Why would Smith bring us all the way down here just to kill us? He could have done that at any moment and he waits until now?" Chuck yelled as the team returned fire.

"I don't care why he is trying to kill us. I'm more concerned with how good of a job they are doing right now. You think these barricades were here by coincidence? Smith wanted us here pinned down," Casey yelled.

Chuck quickly glanced over the barricade trying to see anything that would give his team a chance. Suddenly, the light went out and the room was immediately engulfed in darkness. Through the darkness Smith's voice came piercing through like a sharp knife cutting into flesh. "Chuck we have you pinned down. You have passed all our tests with flying colors. All the security measures you have beaten are state of the art. Now you face a decision. You can come with me and leave your friends behind or you can die here," Mr. Smith laughed as these words left his mouth.

"What happens to the rest of my team if I go with you?" Chuck asked.

"Chuck, don't even think about it," Sarah yelled.

"Chuck, your team will be free to go. I need you motivated and knowing that they are out there and that the only way they survive is if you succeed in what my organization needs you to do. I'll tell you what. I will let you watch them walk out of here. I know Mr. Grimes is watching from a safe distance. He can come and get them and you can watch them leave." Mr Smith just watched as the team looked on in horror. He knew everything he and his bosses needed hinged on what happened right now in this moment.

"Sarah, I have to do this. I can't risk anything happening to you. He won't kill me because he needs me." Chuck's eyes pleaded with Sarah to understand. He knew what he was asking her was unfair, but he had to do this for all their sakes.

"Chuck, there has to be another way. I just got you back and now you want me to let you leave? How can I do that? You can't ask me to do this. I won't lose you." A tear ran down Sarah's cheek.

"Sarah, I have to do this. I'll always choose to protect you. I will always choose you." Chuck grabbed Sarah and kissed her.

"Smith, I am coming out," Chuck yelled.

"No Chuck, I can't let you do this," Sarah yelled.

Casey grabbed her and began to drag her back. "Sarah we're pinned down and Smith can kill us at any moment. He doesn't have a choice," Casey pleaded.

Sarah fought as hard as she could to free herself from Casey's grasp. She finally freed herself and ran to Chuck.

"Sarah, you have to let me go. I have to do this for everyone. Smith is going to continue to come after the ones we love until he has what he needs from me. Please let me go," Chuck said as a tear ran down his face.

Sarah just grabbed Chuck and kissed him. "You'd better come back me Chuck," Sarah said as she looked into Chuck's eyes.

"I need you to come back to me."

"Chuck, I don't have all day. Enough with the tearful goodbyes. It is time to go!" Mr. Smith yelled.

Chuck just looked into Sarah's blue eyes and slowly broke their embrace. "I have to go Sarah, but don't you worry, nothing could ever keep me from you."

As Chuck walked out towards Smith he looked at his team. He had no idea what was coming. He knew the gamble he was taking at this moment. Smith could easily kill him or his team and not bat an eye. He was risking it all on the idea that everything Smith had done to this point revolved around keeping him alive and under his control.

"Ok Team Bartowski, here is your exit." Smith pressed a button and a hatch opened in the ceiling and a ladder appeared from the wall.

"Chuck, you can watch your team leave in one piece." Smith just laughed as Team Bartowski climbed the ladder.

Sarah looked back one last time and saw Chuck surrounded by six armed men, along with the taunting Mr. Smith. Sarah fought back her tears. She knew she would do whatever it took to get Chuck back. She mouthed the words, "I love you."

Chuck nodded and blew her a kiss mouthing, "l love you too." Chuck watched as his family disappeared from his sight. "Ok Smith, you got what you want now what's the plan," Chuck asked.

"Our plans for you are just beginning Chuck. Sweep him for bugs and trackers then tranq him. Can't have him knowing all our secrets," Mr. Smith said as he turned from Chuck.

As Chuck turned to see the tranq gun he couldn't help but let out a little smirk. Everything was going just as he had planned.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Hope this update finds everybody doing well. Wanted to get back to the basics a little bit in this chapter and touch base on our favorite couple. Please feel free to review. I always enjoy reading the reviews good or bad. Look forward to hearing from all of you soon. Also another big thanks to michaelfmx for his beta services on yet another chapter.

* * *

Smith's man pulled the trigger a put a tranq dart in Chuck's neck. Almost instantly Chuck began to feel the effects of the tranquilizer. As the effects of the dart took effect, he closed his eyes and hoped that everything he had set in motion would work.

* * *

 ** _Flashback: Three days prior to the_** ** _mission_**.

Chuck sat at his computer going over all the information they had gathered about Mr. Smith and their own lives. He was looking for something…anything. Some shred of information that he could find to get the upper hand. His frustration began to build and he found himself spiraling. No matter how he looked at it or how he spun it, they had nothing. Everything led to another dead end or another question. He stood up from his workstation and slowly began to walk towards the stairs. " _I just need some fresh air,_ " he thought to himself. He knew he shouldn't be out alone, but right now he needed to get his head on straight. Everyone he cared about was in danger and they needed his A-game if they were going to get through this. He jotted down a quick note for the team letting them know where he was going, and grabbed the keys to Sarah's Lotus on the way out.

Chuck pulled up in front of the dream house. He just sat and stared at the little white house, with the white picket fence, and the red front door. He imagined all the good things that would happen here someday. However, in the face of the danger presented by Mr. Smith, he couldn't help but wonder when that day would be. Would he and Sarah ever get their happily ever after, or where they doomed to constantly repeat the last mission curse. In that moment Chuck made a decision. He was no longer going to let fate decide when his future began. Sarah deserved this house, she deserved a family, and most of all she deserved to be happy. Chuck grabbed his phone and dialed the realtor.

"Hi, I would like to make an offer on a property you are listing," Chuck said. "I am making a full cash offer for the asking price."

With the money from the Decker incident freed up and the sale of the Buy More, Chuck knew he could afford the house and still have money left over to keep Carmichael Industries afloat. The realtor let Chuck know that she would present the offer to her clients and would get back to him as soon as possible. Chuck hung up the phone and looked at the house again. He knew this was going to be his home and nothing was going to stop him from making it a reality. In this moment of clarity Chuck came to a realization. Much like with the Volkoff mission, it took Chuck hitting a crossroads to make a tough decision. While Sarah had been undercover Chuck had felt that he was slowly losing her. Now, with Smith, he could feel that he was slowly losing himself. This realization made him realize what he had to do. A plan had been jumping around in his brain for a while now. It was a risk, but it was now or never. If he was going to have the future that he and Sarah deserved, he was going to have to risk it all.

Chuck jumped back into the Lotus with a feeling of hope. It was the first time since all of this had started that he felt like he had a chance. He started the car knowing that the next part of mission would be critical. If the team agreed to his plan, it promised to be the riskiest mission they had ever carried out. But first he had to convince Sarah that this was the right thing to do, and the thought of telling her made him break out in a cold sweat. He took a deep breath and drove off to talk to his wife and, hopefully, get his future back.

* * *

Back at Castle, Chuck had spent most of the night debating how to lay his plan out to Sarah. He contemplated not telling her at all, but he knew, as far as his health was concerned, that wasn't going to be a wise idea. He was stuck in a chess match with Smith and the only way he was going to win was to plan several moves ahead. The game was already in motion and Smith's greatest advantage to date was the fact that he was calling all the shots. In order to flip this, he would have to be two steps ahead of Smith, as Smith was already one step ahead of him. As Chuck was about to approach Sarah his phone rang. " _Great it's the realtor already calling me back. They must have rejected our offer,_ " he thought to himself. "Hello," Chuck answered. "Really that is fantastic news. I will be over to sign the paperwork right away. Thank you so much for everything, and I hate to ask, but can you do me one little favor." The realtor was eager to help Chuck with his little request. Chuck hung up the phone. He figured this might help to soften the blow a little to Sarah when he told her his plan.

Sarah was in another room with the rest of the team working on a plan for the mission when Chuck came barging in.

"Hey guys, mind if I borrow Sarah for a moment?" Chuck asked.

"Whatever Bartowski, just keep your lady feeling to yourself," Casey exclaimed.

"What do you want Chuck?" Sarah asked.

"Just come with me, it's a surprise," Chuck said as he did his trademark eyebrow dance.

Chuck and Sarah pulled up in front of the dream house, and there was already a 'Sale Pending' sign in the yard. Chuck was glad that the realtor was able to beat them there and get the sale pending sign up in the yard. He figured it would add to the moment.

"Chuck, why are we here? Somebody has already bought the house." Sarah knew Chuck was up to something so she thought she would play along.

Chuck turned to look at Sarah as she walked up towards the door. He could imagine her carrying their children up the walkway to the house, or maybe returning from a run, or even coming home from a night on the town with him. Chuck saw the promise of everything they wanted and worked for over the last five years. It hadn't always been easy on them, that was the understatement of the century, but in this moment it was all worth it.

"Sarah, I know that with this entire Smith situation going on so many things have gotten put on the back burner. I don't want our lives to be on hold forever, so we bought the house." Chuck waited for a reaction from Sarah, but there was nothing. She was just looking at him. She slowly closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around his neck and embraced him with a kiss. Sarah broke the kiss and looked into Chuck's eyes.

"I kinda already figured that part out Chuck. I didn't figure you drove me all the way out here to show me that someone else bought our dream house," Sarah said with a smirk on her face.

Chuck had a slight look of defeat on his face. He was hoping for a bit more of a reaction to finally owning their dream home.

"Well, I guess I should have known I couldn't get one over on a spy," Chuck laughed.

Sarah quickly gave Chuck another passionate kiss.

"What was that for?" Chuck asked.

"I might have figured out the surprise on the way out here, but it is definitely the thought that counts. Chuck you never cease to amaze me. Even in the middle of a mission you put me first. What did I do to deserve such an amazing husband?" Sarah quickly gave Chuck another passionate kiss. Holding on a little longer this time.

"Kisses like that are definitely part of it," Chuck said as he tried to regain his breath.

"Chuck, it is amazing that you did all of this, but we should really be focusing on Smith right now. We don't know what he has planned and the mission is only a few days away," Sarah stressed.

"Sarah let's go inside where we can talk." Chuck looked around and guided Sarah to the door.

Once inside Chuck wrapped Sarah in his arms. He knew what he was about to tell her was going to go over like a lead balloon.

"Sarah about Smith, I have a plan but I don't think you are going to like it," Chuck explained.

Sarah looked at Chuck and could feel her stomach start to tighten. She knew if Chuck was starting a conversation off with that it couldn't be good.

"Ok then, what is your plan?" Sarah asked.

"I think that Smith is actually after the Intersect. He appeared to me first. The first threats he made were towards everyone that I cared about. He talked about how he had been following me since Bryce sent me the Intersect. They only way all of this lines up is if the Intersect is a big piece of the puzzle he and his group need. Think about it Sarah, Smith even went as far as to say that they know the Intersect only works in me. They want me, and I think we should let them have me," Chuck paused allowing his last words to totally sink in.

Sarah couldn't believe what she was hearing. Chuck wanted to give himself to Smith. What did he think, that the dream house would make this all ok? That somehow by giving Sarah the house she would just say ok to his crazy plan. How could he ever think that she would allow him to be taken by the enemy?

"Sarah I know what you're thinking," Chuck started to say before Sarah quickly interrupted him.

"Really Chuck, you know what I am thinking? Obviously you don't know me very well if you would ever think that I would let you turn yourself over to a madman like Smith. What did you think, that if you bought the house I would just be so happy with it that I wouldn't protest your crazy plan? I think Casey has had it right all these years calling you a moron. That has to be one of the dumbest, craziest, and downright worst ideas I have ever heard. Let's give the bad guy exactly what he wants. Here you go Smith, here is Chuck and the Intersect. Do whatever evil acts you want. I mean Chuck, what are you thinking?" Sarah was furious. How could Chuck ever think this was a good idea?

Chuck allowed Sarah to get everything out. He knew that interrupting her might have been the last thing he ever did on this planet. When Sarah was finished Chuck took a deep breath and just looked into her eyes. He hated what he was suggesting, and even more what it would put her through. He was tired of waiting for their future to happen and this was the only way he could think of to take his future back into his own hands.

"Sarah I know it's crazy, stupid, and a whole lot of other words. I didn't buy the house to make it all ok. I bought the house to show you that our future is now. I bought the house to show you that I am willing to do whatever it takes to have this with you. No other woman has ever meant even a fraction of what you mean to me. I would move Heaven and Earth for you, and that is what I am asking you to let me do now. Smith is always a move ahead. He knows what is going to happen next and how we will react to it. The only way to defeat him is to start doing things that he would never expect. Sarah I don't want to leave you. How could I ever want that, but to protect you I have to do this. Smith and his group won't stop until they have what they want, and what they want is me. I have to take them down from the inside. Like you told me when you went undercover into Volkoff industries. I am doing this for us. I am doing this for the real future that we are going to have. Please Sarah let me do this." Chuck knew what he was asking wasn't fair, but nothing about this situation was fair. He just hoped that Sarah would understand.

Sarah just looked at Chuck. She knew he was right. Smith was always ahead of them. They were up against an adversary that had been watching and studying them for years. She had been taught about this at the farm. If you ever have to go up against an agent that is trained the same way you were use that against them. She knew the best weapon they had against Smith was his familiarity with the team. When you feel like you know everything there is to know about a target that is when you relax, and when you relax that is when you make a mistake.

"Chuck going into Volkoff was different. I had your mother to help me navigate through that world. It took time doing odd missions before he even noticed me. Do you really think that you can waltz right in and expect they are going to hand you the keys to the Castle? They aren't going to trust you and you will be all alone," Sarah responded.

"Sarah I know this is a huge risk, but it is a risk I am definitely willing to take. They won't harm me, because they need me alive. I don't expect them to hand me the keys, but as long as you guys are still out there Smith is going to feel like he has leverage over me. He knows I would never do anything to put anyone I care about at risk. That is what I am hoping for. I am hoping he will be so convinced that I won't do anything that he won't see the rest of the plan coming. Sarah, I need you to be ok with this. If you are not ok with this I won't do it. I will come up with something else." Chuck just looked at Sarah and waited for any kind of response.

Sarah just stared at Chuck. Just weeks ago they had stood in this very room. Chuck wouldn't fight back, he vowed that he would never hurt her. She closed her eyes and for a split second, and she was pointing a gun at Chuck's head and was ready to pull the trigger. Her gut screamed no, that what this man was telling her was true, but she had a mission. Just as she was about to pull the trigger she saw the carving in the door frame, 'Chuck and Sarah.' She opened her eyes and she walked over to the carving again. "Chuck, I almost killed you right here in this very spot."

Chuck started to talk, but Sarah quickly shot him a glance that told him he'd better let her finish.

"Chuck, at the last second I saw this carving we had made, and I hesitated. I remembered making this carving. I remembered all the emotions that were tied up in that moment. Now, in this same spot, you are asking me to let you go. That night in this house still haunts me. I came so close to losing it all. I could have easily pulled that trigger. Heck, I could have killed Ellie earlier in the day. If just a couple things had gone a little bit differently we could have lost everything. When I got my memories back, I promised myself that I would never let anything happen to you or any other member of our family. What I almost did to you, to Ellie, that is unforgivable. I still have a hard time understanding how you and Ellie have forgiven me for that…I don't know if I could. So I don't know if I can let you go Chuck. Knowing how much I need you, and how close I came to losing you." A tear started to form in Sarah's eye. She had been bottling this up since the moment she decided to stay with Chuck. Her greatest fear had almost come true that night. Did Chuck realize how close it all came to crashing down? Did he realize how much he had changed Sarah in their time together?

"Sarah, Ellie and I forgave you because we love you. The same way you would have forgiven me had it been the other way. Quinn had manipulated you into believing what he needed you to believe. Yes, you almost killed me in this spot, but this spot also saved my life. After Quinn shot me and you ran out of this house, I thought I would never see you again. Then you told me you didn't feel it anymore, and I thought for sure that I had lost you forever. You came back into my life and I decided to fight. I decided that no matter what happened, I had to try, because I could never live with myself if I didn't. Sarah, nothing in this world means more to me than you and your happiness. I know what I am asking is crazy, dumb, and a huge risk. The only reason I am doing this is because I can't lose you. Sarah, you changed me in so many ways and I can't go back to the way things were before you. I am asking you to let me do this so I can give you everything you deserve." Chuck didn't know what else he could say.

Sarah contemplated what Chuck had just said. She thought about her time undercover with Volkoff. During that mission, she had to revert back to her wild card enforcer persona. Chuck didn't have that luxury. He was the exception to the rule. He had not only survived in this world but he had thrived. Chuck's existence in the spy world was an anomaly. It all started with and email that changed his life and his destiny. Sarah thought back to the beginning of all this. How she had fought for so long to keep her feelings to herself. Now, in this moment, she was glad she didn't have to do that anymore.

Sarah again closed the distance between them. She quickly wrapped him in her arms and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Right now she just wanted to be with her husband. She knew what they had to do, but right now she didn't want to think about it. She wanted this moment, in their new house, to not be about Smith, or missions. She wanted it to be about them and the future they both desperately wanted. While embraced in a passionate kiss, Sarah quickly began to tear at Chuck's shirt. Right now, she wanted nothing between them and nothing was going to stop that from happening.

* * *

Sometime later, Chuck and Sarah's clothes were scattered all over the place. They were catching their breath as they sat on the bare floor with their backs against the wall.

"Well, that was an unexpected surprise. Not that I'm complaining. Any time I end up naked with you is a good thing. What was that for?" Chuck asked.

"Really Chuck, we can't just lay here for a moment and enjoy our new home." Sarah responded.

"Sorry Sarah, I was just a little thrown off. One minute we are arguing and the next minute…well you know," Chuck replied.

Sarah still thought it was cute how modest Chuck could be sometimes. "Chuck, I didn't want the first thing we did in our new home to be an argument. I wanted it to be something special we could always look back on and have a fond memory of."

"Well I would say that was a great memory. I will always enjoy looking back on it." Chuck quickly moved out of the way of Sarah's incoming elbow.

"You know what I mean mister."

"There is something I need to tell you Chuck. What happened that night, with Quinn, still haunts me. I have nightmares almost every time I close my eyes. I am standing there pointing my gun at you, but this time I don't see the carving in time." Sarah hesitated as her emotions threatened to take over.

"You changed me. When I met you, I didn't care about anyone or anything. The World was just a giant mission. Then I met you and you flipped my world upside down. You gave me something to care about, someone to care about. I couldn't hide behind the mission anymore. When I lost my memories I reset back to my old ways. I was a weapon and Quinn pointed me at you and I attacked without a second thought. Then, Chuck, you saved me again. You showed me that there are things in this world worth fighting for. Chuck, you have saved me so many times. It has taken me a long time to feel like I deserved this life with you. I thought for so long that you deserved someone better than me. I have done horrible things, but you never held that against me. You saw things in me that I thought were long gone. That is one of the many reasons I love you. You see the best in people...and you have somehow managed to see the best in me. I strive, every day, to live up to what you see."

"Sarah, your nightmares our not only yours to bear, but mine as well. Don't shut me out. I am here for you no matter what. Sarah, I love you so much and you deserve so much more than you think you do. I strive every day to give you everything you deserve. Like you said, we are perfect for each other. We both have pasts, and they aren't pretty, but they led us to this point. Right now, I am asking you believe in me. I need you to trust me. I am going to continue to do whatever it takes to give you the future you deserve."

Chuck, I know your plan seems like a good idea, but how does turning yourself over to Smith help us out in anyway?" Sarah asked.

Chuck proceeded to explain every aspect of his plan to Sarah. He didn't want to leave out a single detail. He knew that the only chance he had of getting her on board was by leaving nothing out. When Chuck was finished detailing his plan, he just looked at Sarah.

"Chuck if we do this, and I stress if, we have to make sure that everything is ready. We have to cross every 't' and dot every 'i'. We can't miss a single detail. If this is going to work we have to be prepared," Sarah replied.

"So you're ok with this plan?" Chuck asked.

"I wouldn't say I am ok with the plan, but I agree that it is our best shot of taking Smith down. Chuck, I want this. Right now, this moment, I want it for our future. Lazy mornings just lying around the house. One day the pitter patter of little feet running around. The only way it works though, Chuck, is if we are together. I never imagined I would want any of this until the day I met you, and now I can't imagine not having it. The only way I can have it is with you. No one else Chuck. Do you understand? If we do this you have to promise me that you'll come back to me," Sarah pleaded.

"Sarah, nothing will keep me from getting back to you." Chuck leaned in and gave Sarah a passionate kiss.

Chuck and Sarah got dressed and headed back to the Lotus. They knew for the plan to work the whole team had to be onboard. This plan was going to have to be perfect and they only had a few days to get it all put together. "When we get back to Castle, gather everybody up in the secure room and we can begin to lay out the plan," Sarah said.

Chuck just looked at Sarah in agreement. They jumped into the Lotus and sped off. It was now or never for team Bartowski.

* * *

 ** _Present Day_** :

The tranquilizer was slowly beginning to wear off. Chuck was trying to regain his bearings when he heard Mr. Smith's voice. "Our boy is starting to wake up. Make sure he sleeps for the whole ride," Smith commanded.

Just then Chuck felt the sensation of another tranq dart piercing his skin. Before the effects of the dart could take hold, Chuck's mind jumped to the image of Sarah in their dream house just days earlier. "Remember what you are fighting for," he thought as the world around him faded to black

* * *

Team Bartowski exited the underground facility. They quickly surveyed their surroundings, ensuring that they were alone. "Grimes we are ready for extraction. We are just south of the facility," Casey said.

Moments later Morgan appeared around the corner in the transport van. "Hello everybody, our boy get picked up like we hoped?" Morgan asked.

"The package has been delivered," Verbanski responded.

As Sarah climbed into the vehicle, she couldn't help but allow a sense of fear to creep over her. The plan was going exactly the way they had intended it. The only thing she could do now was hope that Chuck was strong enough to do what needed to be done. The entire team would have to be ready because the plan was in full swing and there was no turning back.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Another chapter for your reading pleasure. Sorry for the delay just been crazy with work and family lately. I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter. Thank you again for all the review, favorites, and follows. It means a lot and helps keep the story going. Hope to hear more from you guys after this chapter. Thank you again to michaelfmx for his beta services. Couldn't do it without his help. Also I don't own Chuck or any of its characters. Enjoy.

* * *

The drive back to Castle was silent. Even though the plan had gone exactly as expected, it was bitter sweet. No one knew what would happen next. They had to wait for the trackers to activate to give them a trail to follow, and they had no idea where Chuck was. Their time in Burbank had made Casey and Sarah soft. Casey knew they were no longer the same empty, ruthless weapons they were in the past. Chuck had given them family, friends, and a place to call home. Casey thought back to the days before Burbank and wondered if they were better. He knew they were easier, but better he wasn't so sure about. It came down to the argument of what do you fear more: the man with nothing to lose, or the man with everything to lose? If you would have asked Casey before Burbank, he would have definitely sided with the nothing to lose crowd. Now, he had everything to lose, and it was all thanks to Chuck. The Bartowski's, Grimes, Caption Awesome, Gertrude, and especially Alex, were all part of his family now. He had tried to go back to the ruthless days, but that hadn't worked out so well. I guess you could say now that he sided with the everything to lose crowd. As he thought about everyone he had grown to care about, he couldn't think of anything he wouldn't do to keep them safe, he would give his life for every single one of them. Yes, they weren't your traditional family, but they were a family nonetheless.

"Casey, we're here," Gertrude said.

"Ok, let's get inside and regroup," Casey quickly replied.

Once inside Castle, the team busied themselves with mundane work, waiting for the trackers to start relaying information. Casey and Gertrude were in the armory cataloging all the items from the mission and returning them to storage. Sarah was pacing like a madwoman, and Morgan just sat at a workstation staring at the screen. Just then they heard the voice of the man that had been haunting them since all this began. "Hello Team Bartowski. I hope all is well. Sorry for the little test today, but we had to be sure you guys were up for the task," Smith said.

"Where is Chuck?" Sarah yelled back.

"Don't worry about your husband Sarah, he is just sleeping in the back. Here I will show you." Smith's face disappeared from the screen and the camera showed Chuck sleeping. "You see, safe and sound," Smith replied as his face again filled the screen.

"If you so much as touch him, I will hunt you down and kill everyone in your organization starting with you." Sarah's stare was ice cold and fixated directly at Smith.

"I wouldn't think of it. I have heard all the stories about…Thailand wasn't it? I have no intentions of winding up like that Belgian gentleman. The reason you are seeing me now is that I don't want you to relax. You see, Team Bartowski is still a major part of our operation. I just needed Chuck here for a little while. Don't worry, you will have him back for the next part of your mission. Now, I want you guys to rest up because you are going to need it." Smith's face disappeared and the monitor went dark.

Sarah's blood was starting to boil. Smith was toying with them. "I'm going to hit the showers. Tell me when we have some Intel to work with." Sarah walked past the group. They knew better then to get in her way right now. It was probably best if they let her relax and get her wits about her.

* * *

As Sarah stood in the shower, she couldn't help but think of Chuck. She knew they had to do this for their future, but that didn't make it any easier. The warm water wasn't helping to distract her like she had hoped. All she could do was think about how Chuck was out there, alone with Smith. Her emotions were starting to get the best of her, so she took a deep breath to calm herself. She knew getting angry or upset wasn't going to help Chuck, and right now that's what mattered most. Sarah turned off the water and prepared herself to do whatever was necessary to get her husband back.

* * *

Chuck was slowly regaining consciousness. He had no idea where he was or how long he had been out. He was a little surprised to wake up in a bed, untied. Well this is a pleasant surprise, he thought. Chuck slowly sat up in bed only to be greeted by a massive headache. Chuck closed his eyes and touched his head.

"Oh, don't worry, that headache will go way shortly. Just a little side effect of the drugs we gave you. There is some medicine and water next to the bed if you like. Don't worry it is just Tylenol. I left it in the box unopened so you don't have to take my word for it," Smith commented.

Chuck slowly opened eyes to see Smith sitting in a chair at the foot of his bed.

"Well, I am a little surprised with my accommodations. I figured they would have more of the bars and shackles motif," Chuck replied.

"Oh, nonsense Chuck. You aren't a prisoner. You are our guest. Well, maybe you are forced to stay here, but a guest nonetheless. Chuck, once I leave you will be free to walk around this facility. There will be guards, cameras, and listening devices monitoring your every move. But hey, you can get up and stretch the old legs every once in a while." Smith just smiled like he was having a conversation with an old friend.

"Why am I here?" Chuck asked.

"You see Chuck, the next part of your mission is very important. We need you to go over some very sensitive Intel that we can't have falling into the wrong hands. The only way we can accomplish this is with you, so we can control the when, where, and how much. Don't worry, once you have reviewed everything we need you to, we will return you to your home. Don't look at this as a prison stay, but more like a business trip. You do some work, maybe lounge around a little bit, and then you can return home to the little wife." Smith said the last word with a little more emphasis.

"You leave Sarah out of this," Chuck yelled.

"That's the spirit. I wanted to make sure it was still there. Can't go breaking you yet. I'm going to need that can do attitude to get done what needs to be done," Smith said with a chuckle.

"What do you need done?" Chuck inquired.

"Don't worry about that, we will have plenty of time to get to it. Why don't you relax and enjoy yourself? Take a walk around and enjoy your new surroundings. I'll be in touch. Like I said, Chuck, this is a business trip. You have some time between meetings now, so enjoy it. I'll let you get your rest." Mr. Smith got up from his chair and walked towards the door. As he grabbed the knob, he quickly turned around throwing something at Chuck. "I hope you didn't think I wouldn't find these. It was rather insulting that you tried to use them at all, and don't worry we got all of them." Smith opened the door and slowly walked out.

Chuck reached for what Smith had thrown at him. It was the tracker he and Sarah had planted at the dock. Just what I was hoping to see, Chuck thought. Smith was getting cocky and was playing right into Team Bartowski's hands. Chuck could only hope that Smith's arrogance would continue to grow.

* * *

The rest of Team Bartowski sat around the conference table in Castle. Any moment the first tracker should ping, hopefully giving them the first of many breadcrumbs on their path to Smith. Then, just like clockwork they received their first ping. It was located about one hundred miles northwest of the warehouse. The transport seemed to be heading out of California and towards Nevada. The team knew this could all be nothing. So many things could have gone wrong. The trackers could have been found and destroyed, or worse used to lead them in the complete opposite direction. There was no way of knowing. All they could do now was wait and watch. Over the next several hours they should be receiving multiple pings hopefully showing a route and final destination. The trackers were set to ping every hour for the next twenty four hours. "Ok, now that we have the first tracker we wait," Casey commented.

"We wait? There has to be something else we can do Casey. Chuck is out there and these stupid trackers aren't going to tell us anything for twenty four hours." Sarah's frustration was starting to boil over.

"Look Walker, I know that you're worried about Chuck. Hell, we all are, but remember before he was the Intersect or a spy, he was smart. He'll use that to survive this. You knew all of this was part of the plan, so don't go unraveling on me now. I will not end up locked in a holding cell again," Casey replied.

"I know Casey, it's just harder than I thought. Chuck went and made me a real girl with feelings and everything, and they are a lot harder to control than I remember," Sarah replied with a slight smirk. She knew it would be difficult, but she also knew Casey and the rest of the team would help her keep a level head.

"Let's keep our heads on straight. We have awhile before all the trackers are activated and paint us a picture of what the hell is going on. I will stay and watch the trackers. Everyone else go get some rest," Casey ordered.

"Casey, you know I'm staying here. Remember the last time you tried to order me to get some rest?" Sarah asked.

"Ya, I remember, Grimes here opened his big mouth about Chuck's proposal plan and you went off the reservation," Casey remarked.

"Hey, you know I'm a connector. I share to connect with people, so I told Sarah. You have to admit, at least I tried to keep it a secret," Morgan commented.

Casey and Sarah quickly exchanged glances remembering how quickly and easily Morgan had spilled the information. "You keep telling yourself that Grimes," Casey grunted.

The team quickly settled in. They knew they had some time before the shipment reached its final destination, and all they could do now was wait.

* * *

Chuck sat in his room contemplating his next move. Finally his curiosity got the best of him and he decided to explore. He opened the door that Smith had exited and entered a large hallway. To his left were multiple doors on both sides of the hallway. To his right the corridor led to one single door at the end. Let's see left or right. I feel like…..left it is, he thought. He walked down the hallway, trying to open any door he came across. Most were locked with biometric scanners, which he flashed on, realizing they took a fingerprint. He figured that if he tried to bypass one, Smith's men would be all over him by the time he tried to get inside. Chuck continued down the hallway until he found an unlocked door. He pressed his ear against it, listening very carefully. There were no sounds coming from the other side of the door. He braced himself, ready for whatever he would find on the other side. He quickly flung the door open, stepped inside and began to scan his new surroundings. He was a little surprised to find himself in the middle of a supply closet. Just as he was about to exit, hoping no one had seen his misadventure, he turned to see two of Smith's men standing directly behind him. The two men just looked at Chuck and let out a little laugh. "So this is the great spy Charles Carmichael," one man said to the other.

"I would have thought he'd be a little smarter than to find himself in a broom closet," the other man replied. The two men enjoyed a quick laugh at Chuck's expense and turned to walk down the hallway.

"Excuse me gentlemen, where could a man find something to eat?" Chuck asked.

"Not in there," one of the men joked.

"Go back to your room and use your phone. They'll bring you whatever you want," the other man responded as he started down the hall.

Chuck quickly rushed up behind the two men and grabbed one of the men by the shoulder, turning him to face Chuck. The other guard quickly aimed his weapon at Chuck, preparing for a fight.

"Hey, hey. Everybody just calm down. No need to point that at me. I just wanted to give him these, looks like he dropped them." Chuck handed the man his key ring.

"Funny, I didn't hear them fall," the man replied.

"Must not been able to hear over all the laughing," Chuck said with a laugh of his own.

The man went to take the keys from him, but instead Chuck reached out his hand and gave it a shake, squeezing as hard as he could. "Since you already know my name only fair I get to know yours," Chuck said with a grin.

"Maybe next time," the guard said as he grabbed his keys from Chuck's other hand.

The two men quickly turned away and continued on their rounds. Chuck watched as the men used their fingers to scan into one of the adjacent rooms. Chuck looked at the back of his hand to reveal a thumb print starting to appear. Chuck had placed a special substance, glassenyol, on his hand before the mission that would show a fingerprint. The glassenyol would react to the oil on someone's hand, along with the heat created from the handshake, provided you got the person to squeeze hard enough. Now all Chuck had to do was get the glassenyol cold and it would create a hard form of the guards finger print. Chuck hurried to his room. He went over to the glass of ice water near his bed and quickly removed the ice placing it in the sheets. He then pressed the sheet against the back of his hand firmly, decreasing the temperature on his skin causing the desired reaction. A little part of Chuck was excited by all of this. If it wasn't for the fact that he was behind enemy lines with no back up, he might actually be enjoying himself. Once the glassenyol was cold enough he was able to peel the print off. Chuck had been hoping to use this trick on Smith, but he was pretty sure Smith wasn't going to allow him to get close enough to use it. Now Chuck had a onetime key that he would save for the right time. He still had a couple more tricks up his sleeve. Chuck secured the print and walked over to the phone. "I would like to order some food," he said into the receiver. He figured they wouldn't go to all this trouble just to poison him and he was quite hungry, so why not.

* * *

Sarah had been starring at the screen for hours. They had received a total of 5 pings and the shipments just continued to move northwest and were now near Idaho Falls. Where the hell are they taking this shipment? Sarah thought. In all her years as a spy, she couldn't remember having to deal with many issues in states like Idaho or Montana, but that seemed to be right where Smith's shipment was headed. Sarah pulled up the satellite images again to verify that it was indeed still the same unmarked box car transporting the shipment. With the use of Carmichael Industries satellites, and a little help from General Beckman, they had been able to watch the shipment for most of its route. Sarah just continued to stare at the monitor. She had to keep herself busy or her mind would start to wonder to Chuck.

"Don't worry Walker, Chuck is going to be fine," Casey said.

"I know Casey. I was just thinking back to my time before Burbank, and how different I was," Sarah replied.

"I know what you mean. Bartowski made us both a little soft," Casey commented with a little bit of a smirk.

"I guess you could say he has that effect on people. I'm so thankful I met him Casey….and met you. I was so empty before all of this. I went from mission to mission, never really caring about anything but the next mission. Now I have something to care about, and something to fight for. I know it hasn't been easy, but I really think it has been worth it. You tell anyone this and I will kill you," Sarah joked.

"Look Sarah, I get it. Without Bartowski, I would have never even reached out to Alex. Now I can't imagine my life without her. It's been a royal pain at times, but it's been well worth it." Casey responded. The duo just looked at each other in silence.

"Well now that we got all our lady feelings out of the way what do you say we save your husband."

* * *

Chuck had walked around the facility and had found nothing. All it led to was more locked doors and no-name guards walking around. He knew he was going to have to take his time and play his cards close to the vest if he wanted to survive this one. He ventured back to his room and was surprised to find Mr. Smith waiting for him. "Oh, there you are Chuck," Mr. Smith exclaimed.

"Like you didn't know exactly where I was," Chuck replied.

"Well that's true, but I need to keep up appearances…..in all. Want you to feel like you are free. Anyway, we are ready for you to look over some information for us." With that Smith got up from his chair and headed towards the door of Chuck's room. "Right this way Chuck."

Smith led Chuck down the hall to the right. The single door at the end of the hallway was standing open now. Smith proceeded to go in and allow Chuck to follow. Inside the room was a single chair. It was a small room with all white walls, ceiling, and floor. It resembled an intersect room. "Take a seat Chuck, the information we need you to review will start appearing on that wall over there." Smith point towards the wall the chair was already facing.

"What, you aren't going to watch with me?" Chuck asked.

"No, it's rather boring stuff really. No reason to bore myself with it a second time," Smith said as he headed back towards the door.

"What, no popcorn or drink for the movie?" Chuck joked.

Smith ignored Chuck's last remark and closed the door behind him. Chuck could hear the door lock as it closed. Well, I guess they got me where they want me now, he thought. Chuck hoped that he was right. That they hadn't brought him all this way just to kill him. He knew they needed him, he just hoped it was for a little bit longer. He still needed time to find more Intel and be able to help his team. Just then images started to appear on the screen. There were images of places, people, and all kinds of things. Chuck watched, unsure of what he was looking for, but figured the Intersect would tell him.

After exiting the room, Smith quickly opened a hidden access panel and entered his code, which in turn opened a panel in the hallway revealing another room. Inside this room was monitoring equipment and the equipment pumping the information into Chuck. "Has he flashed on anything?" Smith asked.

"No nothing yet," a mysterious figure replied.

"Good. We need to ensure that none of our organization is in the new Intersect. Who knows what Quinn or the government loaded into it, and with our little problem, they could finally have something on us." Smith was obviously flustered.

"Relax Mr. Smith, take a load off. The images will be done in a little bit and we will discover if our leak was able to relay any information before we plugged it." The mysterious figure stood up and slowly walked over to Mr. Smith.

"You see, Chuck in there will tell us everything we need to know with that brain of his, and when he is done he can steal what we need. Then we will be able to dispose of his entire team."

Smith looked on and watched for any signs of a flash from Chuck. The organization he worked for was so close to accomplishing their goals and nothing was going to stop them now.

The mystery guest slowly walked past Mr. Smith. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"To see if Chuck still wants that popcorn," Was the response he got.

The images on the wall had finally stopped and nothing had happened. No flash, no information, nothing. Chuck wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. As he started to get up, the door behind him opened revealing a shock even he wasn't prepared for.

"What are you doing here?" Chuck was finally able to ask.

"Is that any way to greet an old friend Chuck? Besides looks like you moved on ok without me." Then an image of Chuck and Sarah's wedding appeared behind him.

Chuck looked at the image and then back at the person standing in front of him.

"Jill, what are you doing here?" Chuck asked with anger in his voice.

"Did you really think I would last long on the run from the government on my own? Smith found me and gave me a purpose. Funny thing Chuck, I always thought we would end up in a picture like that. Well, guess I was wrong." Jill then lifted her arm, pointing a gun at Chuck. Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger putting multiple tranq darts in Chuck's chest. All Chuck could think about as he lost consciousness was how much Sarah was not going to like this. Then Chuck's world went black.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Thanks again to michaelfmx for his beta services. It is really helpful to have someone to bounce ideas off of. Also thank you again for the kind reviews. They really help to keep you motivated in the writing process. Hope you enjoy this next chapter, and I look forward to hearing from everybody. Again I do not own Chuck or any of its characters. Enjoy.

* * *

Team Bartowski had been staring at the monitors for hours. Their plan was in full swing, and right now all they could do was watch a dot on a screen. Although it represented the only lead they had, the monotony of staring at a blinking dot was tiring. A large part of the mission hinged on where that dot stopped. Smith and his organization had effectively operated in the shadows for a very long time. The world had gone on without ever knowing of their influence, but yet was constantly being bent to their will. This dot on their screen represented the first real glimpse at the men in the shadows. Just then the Team got the signal from another tracker. They pulled up the satellite image on the screen and were face to face with the group that had manipulated them so well. "Where is that?" Morgan asked.

"I'll tell you where that is. That's the middle of nowhere, Montana," Verbanski replied.

"Why in the heck would Smith be there?" Morgan questioned.

"I'll tell you why. It's the last place anybody would look. Think about it. Who goes looking for trouble in the middle of a ranch in Montana? Smith and his men can come and go as they please and nobody will be the wiser. Any local law enforcement is probably on the payroll," Casey responded.

"Do you think that's where they are keeping Chuck?" Sarah was worried about Chuck. She knew Chuck could take care of himself, but something in her gut told her she needed to find him soon.

"All we can do is check the satellite images and see if we catch any sign of Smith or Chuck. In the meantime, everybody get some rest. We are headed to Montana," Casey responded.

"Casey, what if Chuck isn't ready for our strike? I know this is all part of the plan, but if he isn't ready then we could hang him out to dry," Sarah said.

"Sarah, we have to trust that Chuck will be ready for us. This is all part of the plan. Don't worry, he'll be ok. Chuck will be ready. Now we have to uphold our part of the deal." Casey knew this was all a calculated risk, but they had to risk it. Chuck knew the odds going in. They all did. They were doing this for all of their futures.

"Well then, let's get this show on the road," Sarah responded.

"Wheels up in four hours," Casey ordered.

Team Bartowski was ready. They just had to hope that Smith wouldn't see them coming.

* * *

Smith contemplated everything that had transpired in the past twenty four hours. Charles Irving Bartowski was slouched in a chair right in front of him. The Intersect, in all its glory, was right there, and yet he couldn't use it. Every person who had tried to control it or possess it in the past had wound up either dead or with a few screws loose. The only person that could ever seem to handle it was the man passed out right in front of him. How was it that this self-proclaimed nerd is the only man able to wield the power of such an amazing weapon? Smith just stared at Chuck. He was fascinated by the science and logic of it all. Something about this man in front of him was special and he was going to figure it out. Just then, Smith heard a voice from behind.

"Smith, shouldn't we move him?" Jill asked.

"Yes, I suppose so," Smith commented as he stepped away from Chuck, allowing his men to take him.

Smith followed the men out of the room and proceeded towards his office. He knew that everything that he and his organization had worked for was right there for the taking. He could taste the fruit of victory, yet he couldn't enjoy it. The one recurring theme that always followed Team Bartowski was that they tended to come out on top. They had been able to overcome some pretty insurmountable odds over the years, and Smith wondered if he and his organization would just end up being another feather in their cap. He quickly pushed these thoughts away. They had been extremely careful and had planned for every contingency. There was no way they would not secure the outcome they wanted.

Smith approached his desk and sat in front of his computer. The computer was old and outdated. The technology it ran on was probably older than he was, but it represented the only form of communication he had with his superiors. Smith just stared at the screen and the single blinking cursor that was on it. _I guess now is as good of time as any_ , Smith thought

 _ **First test complete and no sign of a flash**_. Smith typed.

 _ **Good**_ , _ **proceed with further tests. We must find out what**_ , _ **if anything**_ , _ **has been discovered about our organization.**_

 _ **Once the asset is ready we will proceed with further tests.**_ Smith replied.

 _ **What are possibilities of flipping the asset?**_

 _ **Possibility of flipping asset extremely low**_. Smith responded.

 _ **Tests are first priority, but flipping asset is something we want you to keep an eye on. If it becomes a possibility we should be ready.**_

 _ **Yes Sir.**_ Smith typed.

Smith thought about the objectives laid out before him. He pulled out his trusty bottle of scotch and a glass. "Got enough for two?" Jill asked.

"So sorry. Where are my manners? Would you like some?" Smith questioned.

Jill just nodded and watched while pulled a second glass out from his desk and poured them their drinks.

She looked over at Smith as she recalled the first day that she had met him.

 _ **Flashback:**_

Jill found herself trapped in an ally. An SUV sat at both ends blocking any means of escape. She had no idea who had trapped her, but she had no intention of going down without a fight. She had been on the run for months now and was exhausted and out of money. She was ready to make a stand or go down fighting. Jill sprinted towards one of the vehicles, kicking the door closed as it was being opened. Keeping her foot against the door she smashed the window with the butt of her gun. Before Jill could point her gun at whoever was in the car, a fist came surging forward just missing her face. She was able to adjust but the punch pushed her back, allowing the assailant to exit the car. As Jill regained her composure and began to ready her weapon, the man disarmed her. Jill looked at the man and knew she was no match for his strength. The man approached and again threw a punch. Jill used her speed to avoid and counter with a quick knee to the privates. The man fell in pain and Jill answered with a palm strike to the nose, easily breaking it. Another man approaching from the rear, wrapping her in a bear hug. She was beginning to feel the pressure on her ribs and was worried how much longer she could hold on. She drove the heel of her foot down striking the man in the foot. The slight release of pressure on her ribs was enough to allow her to throw her head back and strike the man in the face. The blow didn't have much power behind it, yet it freed her from his grasp. She took advantage of the man's momentary loss of balance and landed a swift side kick to his abdomen following it up with a roundhouse kick to the temple.

All of a sudden Jill heard the distinct sound of hands clapping. She whipped around to see a man standing there. There were multiple men behind him. As she turned to look at the other end of the alley she saw another wall of men approaching her. _Well at least those two will remember when they arrested me_ , she thought to herself.

"That was quite a show you put on there," the man said, stopping his applause.

"Who the hell are you?" Jill yelled.

"A friend, I hope," the man replied.

"You have a funny way of greeting your friends," Jill responded.

"Well you were the one who started all of this. We just wanted to approach you about a job offer and you go off kicking and screaming." The man just stared at Jill waiting for her response.

"A job offer? Those haven't been working out for me very well lately, so I think I'll have to pass. Besides I don't even know who you are." Jill was unsure of what this man really wanted, but right now it wasn't like she had much of a choice but to listen.

"Where are my manners? The name is Smith. Trust me when I say we are nothing like your last employer. Fulcrum was weak and short-sighted. We have a much grander plan in store and I feel like you could be of some use to us. I have a proposition for you Ms. Roberts. You can come with me and we can discuss your future with my organization, or you can continue to live a life on the run, always looking over your shoulder." Smith nodded at his men in the alley and they all started to return to their cars.

"Wait," Jill yelled. "What if I go with you, but I don't like what I hear?" she asked.

"I tell you what. What if you pick the when and where we will meet? If you do not like my job offer then you will be free to leave. No strings attached. You see Jill, may I call you Jill, I believe that it is very important that all my employees feel like they want to be here. How can we build a sense of trust if I force you to work for me?" Smith looked at Jill and hoped that what he had said was enough to intrigue her.

"Since we are all here now, what do you say we get this meeting over with?" Jill didn't know anything about this man or the group he worked for. The last thing she wanted was to give the man time to regroup. She was already working on exit strategies and she figured, with neither of them prepared, it gave her the best shot at escape. "There is a diner just down the street. The two of us can enjoy a quick bite to eat, while your goons wait outside."

"Sounds good to me. Looks like you could use a good meal," Smith said as he pointed at Jill.

Jill and Smith entered the diner. Smith had requested the booth right next to the exit. "You see Jill, you can leave whenever you like. I promise my men will not bother you. If you let me speak my piece, you will have two options when I am finished. You can walk out that front door with me starting a new life, or you can walk out the back and never see me again. Agreed?" Smith waited for Jill to respond and was happy to see her give him a slight nod.

"Good then. How about you take a seat and order. Waitress, please get this young lady whatever she would like and put it on my bill," Smith said.

Jill wasn't sure what to think about all of this, but again, what choice did she have? All she could hope for was that this Smith character was telling her the truth and she would be able to walk free when all of this was over. She ordered her food, taking in everything around her. Her Fulcrum training was in full use right now. The exits were both accessible, but in the front sat the two SUVs filled with Smith's men. She had no way of verifying what waited for her out back. She glanced at everyone in the diner. No one seemed out of place. The few guests that were actually in the diner payed no attention to her and Smith. That was a good thing. She was hoping that by having the meeting immediately, Smith would be unable to gain the upper hand and place his people throughout the meeting place.

"So Jill, you are probably wondering what this is all about. My employer and I agree that you could be a great asset for our organization. You see Jill, we believe that knowledge is key. The old ways of doing things with guns and fists is coming to an end. Of course, you will always need a little good, old-fashioned violence, but the real power is going to fall with the people that control all the information. My group and I specialize in information. That is how we found you. We are always watching and waiting for opportunities to appear and your escape was an opportunity we just couldn't pass up. Jill, we want you to help us. You have intimate knowledge of a couple of subjects that we are extremely interested in." Smith paused for a moment to gauge his progress.

"What subjects might those be?" Jill inquired.

"Now, I can't go giving away all my secrets just yet. I have to know you are on board first. Jill, I am offering you a clean slate. We will wipe you from the system. We will give you the ability to walk free again. No more looking over your shoulder, wondering where the next threat will come from. A clean identity and all we will ask for in return is your loyalty. The government doesn't care why you joined Fulcrum, all they will care about is that you know too much about their precious Intersect. Oops, did I just let the cat out of the bag? There I go again, sharing too much. This mouth of mine is going to get me in trouble someday." Smith finished his speech and waited for any kind of reaction from Jill.

Jill thought about what the man sitting in front of her had just said. He was right about one thing. It didn't matter the what, when, where, or why behind why she joined Fulcrum. She knew too much about Bryce, Chuck, and the Intersect. No matter how long she tried to hide, she could never outrun the US Government. _That damn Intersect_ , she thought. She could never seem to get away from it. Jill knew that Bryce was going to be the death of her. Well, Jill knew it was time to make a decision _._ She thought about getting up and heading straight for the back door and leaving this whole mess behind her, but what kind of life would that be, always on the run with nowhere to go. "Smith is it? I just have one question. What do you plan to do with me?" Jill asked.

"Oh, looks like I have tickled your fancy a little," Smith replied with a grin. "You see Jill, my group and I just watch and observe, and that is all we would ask of you. Then, when the time is right, we all have to get our hands a little dirty, but that is for another time and place. Well, I think I have said about all I can to convince you. It's decision time. Will you take door number one with me or go door number two alone?" Smith then began to hum the jeopardy music as if all of this was a giant game.

Jill looked at Smith and knew there was something not right with this man, but she was tired of running.

"I guess door number one it is," She replied. Standing up from the table and slowing pushing her chair in.

"That is great. I think this is the beginning of something very special. Smith offered her his arm and she graciously accepted. They exited the diner and walked to the cars. He opened the door and allowed Jill to enter. Smith smiled as he closed the door and walked around and joined Jill in the vehicle.

* * *

Casey, Verbanski, and Sarah had arrived in Montana. Night had fallen and the Team was conducting a recon mission around Smith's compound. "Remember everybody, this is not a smash-and-grab job, so keep your asses out of sight," Casey barked over the radio.

"What if my ass is in your sight?" Verbanski joked.

Casey responded with a low growl across the comms.

"Ok children, let's keep the flirting to a minimum," Sarah joked.

"Any sign of movement?" Casey asked, quickly changing the subject.

"No movement to the south," Verbanski responded.

"North and east are clear," Sarah called back.

"West is all clear. Whatever type of security detail Smith has is making sure to stay out of sight." Just then, Casey saw what appeared to be a two-man team exiting the building. They were doing a routine security sweep of the perimeter. "I have two bogeys approaching the north of the compound."

"I got them. They are circling the building. Gertrude, they should be coming into your line of sight any moment," Sarah relayed.

"I've picked them up and they are entering the building. Looks like we have some kind of fingerprint scanner on this end. We will have to either bypass the scanner or gain use of a finger," Verbanski commented.

"Right, now we sit back and watch. We have to give Chuck some time to get ready on his end. Hopefully Smith will contact Grimes back at Castle and then Chuck will know we are ready to go. Everybody sit tight and let's keep our eyes peeled. The more intel we gather, the better chance we have of surviving this," Casey responded.

"You'd better survive this John. You still owe me that massage you promised," Gertrude joked.

The comms went silent, it was all Sarah could do not to laugh. The mighty Casey had fallen. He was not only in a relationship, but was in love. Not that anybody would probably ever hear him say that.

"Ok, everybody hunker down. Looks like we could be here a while," Sarah said, breaking the silence. All the Team could do now was sit and wait. They had to be patient and gain any information they could.

* * *

Smith noticed Jill was staring into space. "Jill, you still with me?" he asked.

"Yes. Sorry, just thinking back to the day we met," Jill replied.

"That was a nice little diner we ate at. We should go back sometime and reminisce about old times. I still remember the beating you gave those two guards of mine. That was when I knew I just had to have you," Smith responded with a laugh.

"Well, here's to our first successful test," Smith toasted. "Hopefully we will have many more."

Jill nodded and raised her glass. "How have we been ordered to proceed?" Jill asked pointing towards Smith's screen.

"We're to proceed as planned. First objective is still to run Chuck through all the tests and see what, if anything, is in the Intersect about our organization. The second objective is to see if there is any possibility to bring Chuck on board. You have a past with Chuck, what do you think the possibilities of that are?" Smith inquired.

"I would say pretty low. If Chuck is one thing, he is loyal. I am not sure how much Chuck has changed over the years, but I can tell that hasn't changed."

"What makes you say that?" Smith inquired.

"The way he looks at Sarah. I have been observing him carefully and I saw it again today when I showed him their wedding picture. You can see it in his eyes, there isn't anything he wouldn't do for her. I have been on the other end of that gaze before. It is hard to miss. Chuck won't do anything to risk his friends and family. Beyond that, I am not sure how much I really know Chuck anymore. The last time I saw him, he was still innocent and scared. I think the innocence is still there, but that scared little boy has been replaced with someone else. I am not sure who or what yet, but I would venture to say his team has had a little bit to do with that."

"Well, I say we enjoy our drinks and this little victory. Now we bring phase two online and see how Chuck handles that." With that Smith took a large gulp and slammed his drink down.

* * *

Chuck was slowly regaining consciousness. _Man_ , _I hope that these tranquilizers don't have any side effects_ , he thought. As Chuck's eyes began to gain focus, he could see a figure sitting at the end of his bed. "Smith, we are going to have to stop meeting like this," Chuck said with a snicker.

"I'd like to think I am a little easier on the eyes than Smith is," Jill joked.

"Jill, what are you doing here?" Chuck questioned

"I just wanted to make sure I didn't put too many tranq darts in you. Sorry, I got a little trigger happy."

"Come on Jill, you know what I mean. What are you doing here with Smith? I let you go to live a life away from all of this and here you are, right in the middle of it again. I wanted you to have a normal life. Fulcrum manipulated you into joining their ranks. I gave you that ring in hopes that, if faced with that same choice again, you would choose to get out. I guess I was wrong." Chuck couldn't believe that Jill was there in front of him again. He thought when he let her go that he would never see her again.

"Really Chuck, you have to ask? How long did you think that I could run, knowing what I knew? The Government wasn't going to rest until I was in a hole somewhere or worse. Smith found me and he offered me a clean start. That ring you gave me wasn't going to be enough to keep me safe. I had no other options so I took it. Don't act like you are innocent in all of this. You had your chances to get out, and you just kept diving right back in," Jill shouted with venom in her voice.

"What do you know about me and what I've done? You don't know me Jill, and I don't think you ever really did. You just saw a nerdy guy that you could make your puppet," Chuck yelled back matching Jill's anger. "And a fresh start? Seriously? You call this," he continued, waving his hands around the room, "a fresh start?"

Jill ignored his comments and continued, "Chuck, Smith and I have been following you since I left. I have read the reports. You had the Intersect removed and yet you downloaded it again. You left the spy world after the fall of the Ring and got pulled right back in. Then the CIA burnt you and you create your own spy team. Chuck, you had your chances to get out and yet here we are. You say I treated you like a puppet, what do you think the government has done, or your wife for that matter?" Jill tried to continue her rant but Chuck interrupted her.

"Don't you dare talk about her! You know nothing about her. If you've been watching us this whole time then it's pretty clear you haven't learned a damn thing. Sarah is the best thing to ever happen to me. I had the ability to help people and I couldn't walk away from that. Sarah saw that quality in me from the very beginning. She showed me that I could be the hero in the story. She believed in me more than you ever did, so don't you dare talk about her. Sarah didn't treat me like some puppet that she had to control. She never wanted me to change."

Jill could sense that she had struck a nerve. There was that loyalty she knew Chuck had. Casey and Sarah had affected Chuck, but they hadn't changed that. It was the chink in his armor that she was looking for. Chuck couldn't make a move without putting his team in danger, and that was all the leverage she and Smith would need.

"I say we give the wife a call and let her see how you are spending your time," Jill responded.

Just then, a monitor appeared from behind a panel on the far wall. An image of Castle came into focus on the screen but there was nobody there. "Looks like your team has already moved on without you Chuck," Jill said with a laugh. Just then Morgan appeared on the screen.

"Ahhhhh, you scared me. I was walking to get some food then, poof, there you were Chuck. Sorry man I just didn't expect to see you. Smith taking ok care of you?" Morgan asked.

"I guess you could say that," Chuck responded.

"Hey, who is that with you? Is that Jill? Holy cow! Talk about a blast from the past. What do you have to do with all of this? I always knew you were a little crazy, but Smith crazy? Even I have to admit that I didn't see that one coming," Morgan continued to ramble and Jill was growing impatient.

"Morgan, shut up. Where is the rest of your team?" Jell screamed at the screen.

"Who? Casey and Sarah? They are resting in the bunks in back. You know, even super spies have to sleep. You want me to show you? Morgan grabbed another monitor that showed multiple beds each occupied by a different member of Team Bartowski. See, fast asleep. I can wake them if you like, but I suggest we let them get their sleep since we have the big mission Smith keeps talking about," Morgan commented.

"Leave them Morgan. Just let them know that I said Hi," Jill said with a laugh.

"Ok, I guess I can do that, and Chuck you stay safe out there. I am here for you and will do whatever I can to get you back," Morgan's comments were quickly cut off as the screen went black.

"Well, I guess we can see how much you matter to your team. They are all sound asleep while you sit behind enemy lines. Sleep tight Chuck and get some rest, you are definitely going to need it," Jill said as she exited the room.

Chuck just looked at the monitor. _Got your message loud and clear buddy_ , he thought. Chuck knew that the rest of his team were about to make a move against Smith and he had to put his efforts into high gear to be ready.

* * *

Morgan was in shock. What did Jill have to do with all of this? Chuck had filled him in on the basics of Jill's spy life, but that wasn't much. Morgan was worried about his friends. Smith seemed to have an advantage around every turn. Not only did Jill provide Intel, she also provided a soft spot. Morgan knew that Chuck loved Sarah, and nothing was ever going to change that. It was the idea that Chuck might do something stupid and try to save Jill from herself….again. He knew this muddied the waters, but the plan was already in motion. Morgan went to the secure room and called Sarah. "Just saw Chuck and he knows that you guys are about to make your move," Morgan said.

"Thanks Morgan. You did well. Now all we can hope for is that Chuck will be ready for us," Sarah responded with a little since of relief. Now she was sure that Chuck knew things were about ready to go down.

"Sarah, there's something else.… Jill is there and she is helping Smith hold Chuck." Morgan knew this information wouldn't sit well with Sarah, but the Team needed to have all the facts.

"Thanks Morgan. We'll be in touch." Sarah hung up the phone and proceeded to let out a loud grunt over the comms.

"What's going on Walker?" Casey asked.

"Chuck knows we're coming, but Smith isn't alone. Jill Roberts is there," Sarah informed Casey.

Casey only responded with a grunt. He knew better than to poke the bull at this point.

Sarah just stared at the compound in front of her. The feelings she was experiencing weren't jealousy or mistrust. They were a deep-seated anger towards someone that Chuck had tried to save who had chosen to reward him like this. Chuck had given Jill a new lease on life and this is how she chose to spend it. Sarah hoped that Chuck could handle the curveball the team had just been thrown. Chuck's trusting nature was something Jill had manipulated in the past. Jill was going to pay for breaking Chuck's trust. Sarah was going to make sure of that.

* * *

Chuck had seen more images than he cared to count. Jill and Smith just kept bombarding him with image after image. He figured they were trying to gauge what, if anything, was in the Intersect about their organization. He was trying to recognize anything that might help him, but there were so many images, and they seemed so random, that there was no way for him to distinguish between ones of importance and ones just there to confuse him. During the few breaks that he was given, Chuck cataloged as much information as he could about his captors and his surroundings. It had been nearly twelve hours since his conversation with Morgan. Morgan had said the he would do anything to find Chuck. That was the signal. The team had agreed if they found anything Morgan would stay behind in case Smith tried to contact them again. If he had used the word we instead of I that would have told Chuck they hadn't found anything yet and the team would still be in Burbank. It was a crude code, but it worked. He knew that the rest of Team Bartowski would be making there move shortly.

Everything was coming together quickly so Chuck had to act, and he had to act now. Chuck had just wrapped up another test. He walked to his room and grabbed the chair so he could stand on it and reach the ceiling. He stuck his head above the drop ceiling to see if he could gather any information about the facility. As he was looking, he heard the door open and the distinct sound of Smith's voice. "Don't hurt yourself Chuck. We might have finished the tests, but the big mission is still to come."

Chuck looked down from the ceiling to see Smith and Jill just gazing up at him. "Oh, just seeing what was up here. You know, the tech guy in me never shuts off. Just like to see what kind of ship you are running." Chuck said as he got down off the chair.

"Oh Chuck, don't be so modest. I know you were trying to find a data line to hack into. You can look up there all you want. Those lines are all hidden rather well, so feel free to keep looking. I would have been a little concerned if you hadn't tried something. I mean, what kind of spy would you be if you didn't at least try to get some Intel while you were here? Shortly, your stay with us will be over, and you can go back to your wife. Chuck, I am not the bad guy in all of this? Governments, secret societies, you name it, they all are after the same thing….. power. That pursuit has been going on since the dawn of man. It just boils down to which side you choose. Chuck, you have a rare opportunity here. You get to see behind the curtain, so to speak. Everything is right here laid out in front of you. You have the Intersect with all the secrets, and yet you choose to serve instead of use it for yourself. You could take that knowledge and turn it into power. Governments, businessmen, and all people would bow before you with all the information in your head. Chuck, an organization like mine could help you to wield that power."

"Smith, why don't you save your breath? If this is the big speech trying to lure me over to the dark side, it's a waste of time. An organization like yours answers to no one. There is nothing stopping you from doing whatever you want. Like threating my friends and family. Need I remind you that you shot at Sarah's father just because you didn't like what we had to say? The government isn't perfect and they make their share of mistakes, but there are still good people fighting the good fight. So save your sales pitch, the answer is no." Chuck responded.

"Ok, Chuck. I can see when I am beating a dead horse, but one last fact. A little food for thought, as they say. This government you speak of, with all their soldiers fighting the good fight. This is the same government that ordered the execution of one of their soldiers…you." Smith paused to let the information sink in.

"What are you talking about?" Chuck asked.

"When you recovered the cipher from Mr. Colt and the new Intersect was about to be brought online, Langston Graham and General Beckman ordered your termination. The risk of their secrets getting out there outweighed the value of your life. You see Chuck, corruption is everywhere. If you don't look out for yourself, nobody else will. I could show you the file and all the records we have on the order, but would you really believe little old me?" Smith turned and walked towards the door. "I suggest when you get home you sit down and have a nice long conversation with your team. Maybe start with the real brooding one that likes to grunt. Just a suggestion." Smith exited the room.

"Jill, what is he talking about?" Chuck asked.

Jill saw a real chance to exploit Chuck's naivety. She was not going to let it pass. "You see Chuck. They feared what someone could do with the Intersect stuck in their brain. Your service didn't matter. All the good you did meant nothing to them. All that mattered was keeping themselves safe. They will try to spin it that the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few, but we both know that's not true. When did the murder of one United States citizen ever become OK? You see Chuck, that is why I joined Smith. The government that you so desperately fight to protect planned to kill you. What do you think they would have done had they caught me? Be careful Chuck. Don't forget about who was your team back then. Don't think that they didn't know or didn't have something to do with it. Like Smith said, just some food for thought." Then Jill turned and exited the room closing the door behind her. She hoped that Chuck still cared for her enough to believe what she had just said. She knew if he did this last little bit of information might have been enough to drive a wedge between him and his Team.

Chuck hung on the words that Smith and Jill had just said. Had they really ordered his termination? Did Sarah and Casey have anything to do with it? Chuck was unsure on what to believe, but he knew that he was going to get to the bottom of it one way or another.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Thank you again for the reads, reviews, follows, and favorites. I hope everyone is still enjoying this story and that this new chapter helps to push the story along. Can't wait to here from everybody. Thank you again for everything, and a big thanks to michaelfmx for his beta services. It really helps to have someone to bounce ideas off of. I apologize for the delay on this chapter had some life events come up. Hope to get the chapters out more regularly now. Again I don't own Chuck or any of its characters.

* * *

As Smith left Chuck's room he could practically feel the desperation in the air. The blow that he and Jill had just delivered to Chuck had done exactly what he had envisioned. It had knocked Chuck off his game. Now all he had to do was sit back and watch the fireworks _. It is going to be magical watching Casey try to grunt his way out of this one_ , he thought. There was the off chance that Chuck didn't believe Smith and wouldn't even breach the subject with his team, but Smith knew his little nerd better than that. He knew that the thought would eat at Chuck like a parasite finally manifesting itself, giving him no choice but to confront his team. Smith approached the security monitors to see how Chuck was processing the information. He was a little surprised to see Chuck was nowhere to be found. Smith switched from one camera to camera another and still no Chuck. He was about to play back the feed when Chuck appeared in the hallway. He watched as Chuck paced the compound. There was so much confusion on his face. It was such an amazing sight.

Smith rather enjoyed the manipulation of the spy world. He reveled in the thought of bending someone to his will without them being the wiser. The sense of power that came from watching someone slowly and aimlessly falling down the rabbit hole, spiraling towards an outcome that was predestined for them, was amazing. Then watching as their world came crumbling down around them, a pure look of terror on their face as they finally realized what had happened, brought an adrenaline high that was he lived for. He just loved the power of it all. Team Bartowski was going to be another check in his victory column. He had manipulated them from the start. He had pushed and pulled wherever he needed to, and now he had the situation right where he needed it to be. The heart and soul of the Team was now second guessing everything. With just a little bit more of a push he might even be able to sway Chuck over to the dark side.

Smith had been basking in the glory of what he had done when the entire compound shook. He quickly looked at the monitors to see what was happening, but most showed nothing but fuzz. The facility then shook again. He went through shot after shot and nothing. What the hell was happening? Where they under attack. How was that even possible? No one knew where this facility was located. Could it be Chuck's team? No, they wouldn't risk Chuck's wellbeing would they? He began to hear radio chatter from his men. No one knew what was going on. Smith quickly grabbed a radio. "Initiate secure lockdown protocol and find the prisoner immediately," he yelled. Smith's men quickly responded and jumped into action.

"Anyone have eyes on the prisoner?" Smith was in a panic. This was not part of the plan. Smith had no idea what or who had caused the explosion. There seemed to be no follow up action. There was just silence. The only sound Smith could hear was from his own men.

"No eyes on the prisoner," Alpha team responded.

"Negative on the prisoner," Beta team replied.

"Last known location was the south hall," Smith yelled.

"Omega team in route to last verified location," was the response Smith received.

Smith just sat and waited. The feeds were all down. He had no eyes in the compound. Lack of control was not something he was use to. Controlling every variable and every movement was what Smith did. Now, trapped in the chaos, all he could do was wait for his team to do what he paid them for.

"Prisoner secure. Proceeding to extraction point," Omega team reported.

"Alpha team in route to secure leader."

"Beta team providing perimeter for extraction."

Smith took his first breath in what seemed like an eternity. Yes it had only been five minutes, but it seemed like it had taken so much longer than that. They had arrived at the extraction point and everyone was accounted for, even one Charles Bartowski. "So sorry about the fireworks, Chuck. I'm not really sure what happened. What do you say we board the helicopters and get the heck out of here? You know, before the whole place goes boom." Smith smiled at Chuck as they boarded the chopper.

Once they were a safe distance from the facility, Smith nodded to Alpha leader, who proceeded to remove a detonator from his vest. He pressed the button and the facility below was immediately engulfed in a ball of fire. Everything around them seemed to shake. "You see Chuck, we can't leave anything behind. Don't want people asking too many questions. Tomorrow, the headlines will read, 'Gas leak destroys abandoned facility just outside town.' When they look through the rubble they won't be able to find a thing. Oh, and by the way Chuck, enjoy your rest." Smith then put two tranq darts into Chuck's chest.

Now Smith was finally able to relax and evaluate the situation. What had happened? The initial blast hadn't caused much damage to the facility. It knocked out all the security feeds, and the second blast had caused just enough damage to add to the confusion. He looked around at his team and then focused his gaze on Chuck. He knew he had to have something to do with this, but what and how? He had no access to anything strong enough to cause that kind damage? Omega leader said they had located him in the hallway under some debris, right where Smith had last seen him. Blowing the facility wasn't what concerned Smith. That part was inevitable. Anytime they have a guest it was standard protocol to completely destroy everything. It was the timing. He hadn't initiated any of it. It wasn't his plan being acted out right now, it was someone else's. Smith wasn't sure about the why or how of what just happened, but he knew he'd better be prepared to elevate his game. Team Bartowski was coming at full speed and their sights were set on him.

* * *

As Jill exited the room, Chuck gathered himself and took a deep breath. He didn't have time to focus on what he had just been told. He knew it was an attempt to rattle him and right now that wasn't a luxury he could afford. It was now or never. Chuck quickly moved into the hall and headed directly to the janitors closet he had discovered earlier. Once inside, he took out all the chemicals he had prepared. He had flashed on the items inside the closet and knew exactly how to utilize them to his advantage. He carefully placed one in the ceiling directly under a piece of conduit. He knew it housed the security feeds. The few cameras that he had been able to locate fed directly into that conduit. The larger explosive he set in the center of the room. This explosive had a little bit more bite to it. Chuck had discovered multiple hidden charges in the facility. He had removed small pieces of C-4 that were attached to each charge. Smith's arrogance had played right into Chuck's plans. Smith had watched Chuck explore the facility. He knew that Chuck was looking into every nook and cranny. He just didn't care or even consider that Chuck would do anything other than look for Intel.

Chuck looked at his homemade contraptions and smiled. _Channeled my inner MacGyver_ , he thought. Chuck started the reaction for the first explosion and then for the second, hoping they would go off within seconds of each other.

Chuck proceeded straight to the door he hoped housed the server room. Smith was wrong about what he was looking for in the ceiling earlier. He wasn't looking for a data line, he was looking at the fire sprinkler system. His days at the Buy More had taught him many things, but one important thing was that water and computers don't mix. He knew that the room without sprinkler lines leading into it most likely housed something electronic. Again, not dealing in exact science, he had to take an educated guess. This whole mission was an educated guess. Chuck began to pace in the hall. He knew Smith was watching and he wanted to give him the illusion that he was spiraling out of control.

Suddenly, the first explosion went off. Chuck used the mold from the security guards finger print to quickly gain access to the room. Once inside Chuck was pleasantly surprised to discover that he was alone and surrounded by computer equipment. He quickly took in his surrounding as the second explosion rocked the facility. He knew he needed to hurry. He made his way to the first server he could locate. He removed a tiny drive which he had hidden in the sole of his shoe. He had a modified version of the Omen virus loaded and ready to go. He quickly loaded it on the server. The virus would infect the system and hide its very existence. It was coding that the Piranha could be proud of. Once the file was loaded, he removed any sign of his presence and returned to the hallway.

Once out in the hall Chuck debated about trying to escape, but he knew he didn't have enough time. He could hear Smith's men rapidly approaching. He laid down on the floor and pulled as much debris on top of him as he could. Smith's men rounded the corner and located Chuck. "Prisoner secure. Proceeding to extraction point," Chuck heard the man speak into the radio. Another member of the team grabbed Chuck and began to drag him away from the room. They exited the building and he was surrounded by Smith, Jill and their men. Chuck continued to look away hoping to hide any signs of what had transpired. Once in the air he stared at the panel in front of him. He wasn't sure if what he did would do anything. Then the facility that they had just occupied was gone in a burst of flames. Chuck looked at Smith to hear the tail end of his monologue. Something about a gas leak. He wasn't sure what he was saying. All he was doing was hoping that the virus had enough time to do its job. Then maybe, just maybe, Team Bartowski would finally have the upper hand. "Oh and buy the way Chuck, enjoy your rest." Were the last words Chuck heard before he closed his eyes and allowed his thoughts to wonder to Sarah and their future together.

* * *

Team Bartowski had returned from Montana with not much to show for the trip. The compound was a giant warehouse that housed everything from weapons to art. They were able to get in and out without being noticed. The only good thing to come out of the op was the one server they found. It was kind of an odd setup. In an office they found a single server that fed a single computer. The odd part was that the computer the server fed was probably older than most of them. It reminded Sarah of the old computers that used to be in Stephen Bartowski's secret basement. The server had encryption unlike anything Sarah had seen before. It made her miss having Chuck around for all the computer stuff. Sarah sighed. Just the latest reminder of how much she missed Chuck. That was probably one part of her spy arsenal that she had let slip in her time in Burbank. All they could do was load the few programs that Chuck had left them and hope for the best.

"Any luck in Montana?" Morgan asked.

"Not much. We did get a pretty good idea where Smith must store most of his goods, but that's about it," Sarah replied.

"Hey moron, how about you come over and help Verbanski and I unload the gear?" Casey asked as he headed into the armory in Castle.

Morgan quickly got up from his seat and headed straight towards the armory. Sarah let out a slight chuckle. The friendship those two shared would never cease to amaze her. No matter what Casey would say, she knew that Morgan Grimes was now considered a friend. Sarah turned to the computer to begin cataloging what they had found on their recon mission when she noticed a flashing red dot on the monitor in front of her.

"Morgan, when did this light come on?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, that light? I would say about thirty minutes before you got here. I had no idea what it meant so I didn't touch anything," Morgan replied.

Sarah sat down in front of the monitor and clicked on the corresponding alarm. The smile that had been on Sarah's face was quickly replaced with a look of desperation. She turned and sprinted up the stairs. Morgan noticed the change in Sarah's demeanor and was about ready to ask her what had happened, but before he could get a word out she was gone.

Morgan approached the monitor. "Hey Casey! You might want to come take a look at this," Morgan yelled as he turned towards the armory. Behind him on the monitor where the words: **Alarm Echo Park master bedroom**.

Underneath the alarm was an image of Chuck laying on their bed.

* * *

Sarah was driving at breakneck speed. Right now, all her mind could think about was Chuck. She had no idea of his current state. He could just be knocked out, or injured, or maybe even worse. "No," Sarah yelled at herself, pushing those thoughts out of her mind. Chuck was fine. She thought back to her first days in Burbank. She remembered how quickly she had become compromised. She tried so hard to keep Chuck at arm's length. She used everything in her arsenal to try to keep their relationship professional, but even before their first date was over, she had already lost that battle. Now, all she could think about was making sure he was okay. Right now, the future they both deserved was the only thought she was allowing to fill her mind. As she came to a screeching stop just outside their apartment, she quickly exited the Lotus. She barged into their apartment with her gun at the ready. "Chuck…..Chuck….Chuck…..Are you okay?" Sarah yelled as she entered their bedroom. There was no response and she sat directly next to him, taking his hands in hers.

"Chuck, I need you to wake up. Please wake up Chuck," Sarah pleaded, tears starting to form in her eyes.

As Chuck started to come to, he slowly became aware of regaining access to his extremities. He could hear something faint, something in the distance. The harder he tried to hear it, the more he could swear it was Sarah. Then he felt someone squeezing his hand. He was now gaining control of his eyes again. With all the strength he could muster, he began to slowly open his eyes. The sight in front of him was beautiful, but also cruel. He saw his Sarah directly in front of him, but he knew his mind had to be playing a horrible trick on him. He was probably buried in some bunker with Jill and Smith. He knew it had to be a dream, but he wasn't ready to wake up. Just then he saw an even more beautiful sight as Sarah graced him with her amazing smile. She then took his face in her hands and pressed her lips to his. She felt like his Sarah, she smelled like her, and she even tasted like her. It was the most realistic dream he had ever experienced. As they broke their embrace, Chuck couldn't help but smile. "I know this is a dream, but I am not going to complain," Chuck said.

Sarah reached back and gave Chuck a quick punch to the shoulder. "Ouch, what was that for?" Chuck screeched.

"That was to show you that this isn't a dream," Sarah said as she gave Chuck another passionate kiss.

Chuck looked around and he was starting to realize exactly where he was. "That's my computer, and my clock, and there's my Tron poster. Which means I'm in our room, and that means that you're my wife," Chuck said with the biggest smile Sarah had ever seen.

Sarah knew he hadn't really been gone all that long, but when your husband is in the grasp of a madman, time tends to drag painfully slowly. "Yes Chuck, I am your wife, and if you ever leave me like that again I will be your worst nightmare," Sarah said with a little hint of a smile.

All Chuck could do was embrace Sarah and kiss her over and over again. "Sarah, I'm so sorry. I missed you so much. You are all I thought about," Chuck said.

"Glad to know you were worried about us as well," Morgan stated.

Chuck and Sarah turned to see Casey and Morgan standing in the door. "We saw you on the monitor and wanted to make sure Smith hadn't done anything stupid. You know, go off hurting you and piss your wife off that is," Casey replied, hiding the fact that he was also worried about Chuck. "Let's say we give these two love birds a moment to themselves."

"Thanks Casey, but don't go too far, we need to talk," Chuck replied. Chuck knew he needed to talk to his team, but right now all he wanted to do was embrace his wife.

Casey gave Chuck a questioning gaze, but he knew it was better to let these two have their space or he was going to see more of Bartowski then he would ever be able to forget. Morgan and Casey returned to the courtyard and stopped by the apartment to check in with Alex.

Chuck and Sarah were together again, and all the couple could do was lose themselves in each other's gaze. They didn't waste time and energy on words, but instead allowed their bodies to tell each other what their hearts so desperately needed to profess. The 'I miss you', 'I love you', 'I need you' and every other emotion they were feeling went unsaid. Instead, those emotions were conveyed by their hands, slowly exploring every inch of each other's bodies.

Sometime later, Sarah and Chuck lay in each other's embrace, trying to catch their breath. With the heat of passion beginning to subdue, it was time for their words to take over.

"Sarah, I missed you so much. I don't ever want to be away from you like that again. I know I had to do it, but when I am away from you I am lost." Chuck pleaded.

"I'm glad we're on the same page about one thing. Never again. You aren't going with a madman again without me. We are in this together no matter what," Sarah added.

"Agreed," Chuck responded.

Chuck just looked at Sarah. He knew he had to ask. The information that Smith and Jill had given him was eating at him. He hated to do it now, but time was not something that was on his side.

"Sarah, I think we need to talk," Chuck said.

Sarah just looked at Chuck. She knew this couldn't be good, but no matter what, they weren't going to let whatever it was break them.

* * *

Casey walked into the living room of Casa Bartowski. The team was finally back together and they could hopefully start working on their plans for Smith. Something was troubling Casey. The look on Chuck's face when he had told Casey they needed to talk put him on alert. Just then he was joined by both Chuck and Sarah. "Glad to see you are okay. Hopefully Smith didn't rough you up to much," Casey commented.

Chuck just looked at him. There was not the usual innocence in his glare, it was more serious and direct. Chuck had a purpose and Casey figured he was about to find out what it was.

"Casey, do you know anything about a termination order put out against me?" Chuck asked.

All Casey could do was swallow the lump that had just formed in his throat. That day still haunted him. He fought with the powers that be to cancel the order. That Chuck had served his country with honor, but they wouldn't have it. They threatened to have someone else carryout the order. Casey knew Chuck deserved the best, and that was what he was. Casey flashed back to that day, staring at Chuck down the barrel of a gun. It represented everything wrong with the spy world. On that day, Casey had not only betrayed his team, but he had also betrayed his country. He almost ended the life of an innocent citizen of the United States of America. Chuck hadn't asked for any of what had happened to him, but in spite of that he had served admirably. When that service was done, the powers that be were prepared to throw him out with the garbage. Casey had run through that moment in his mind many times since that dreadful day. Truth be told he wasn't sure if he would have even been able to go through with it. He had waited for Sarah's date with Chuck. A part of him wanted her to catch him and save Chuck. He knew Sarah was compromised and she would have done anything to save him. They might not have had much of a life on the run, but at least they would have been together. That was at least what Casey had tried to convince himself of at the time. Now, of all times, this night was finally coming back to bite Casey in the ass. He could lie to Chuck and to Sarah, but he didn't want to. He deserved whatever reaction he got. He hadn't fought hard enough to save Chuck, and now it was time to pay the piper.

"Chuck, I'm not going to lie to you right now, but I need you to believe me when I say that I wouldn't have gone through with it. I've replayed that night in my head over and over. It was the worst night of my career. I know I don't deserve it, but I hope that someday you and Sarah can forgive me." Casey stared at Chuck. He waited for some kind of reaction, but there was nothing. Chuck just stared at him with a look that Casey hadn't seen before. It was like something had washed over Chuck. He wasn't the same happy go lucky nerd. He was now Charles Carmichael, heartless spy.

"Say something. Hit me. Anything, don't just stand there. I get it Chuck, you're angry. You don't know if you can trust me anymore, but I promise you not a day goes by that I don't regret that evening. I don't know what I would have done had the Intersect not blown up. I….." Casey wasn't able to get the next words out as Sarah's foot landed swiftly against his right cheek.

"How could you Casey? You almost killed the man I love. Then, you make matters worse by not even telling me! Me, your partner. I could have protected Chuck from another order. I could have hidden him away from everything, but no, you didn't even trust me enough to tell me." Sarah's anger was at a tipping point. She wanted to continue to attach Casey until he was beaten and bloodied. Just as she was about to strike again, a tranq dart pierced Casey's neck. Sarah turned to see Chuck pointing the gun at Casey.

"Chuck, it's ok. I'm right here," Sarah said as she closed the distance between them.

Chuck still had yet to say a word. His eyes had glassed over and all the emotion that was there earlier had been replaced with a look of emptiness. Chuck just stared at Sarah. No patented Bartowski smile, or eye brow dance. Just a cold, calculated stare that had frozen Sarah where she stood. "Chuck, what is it?" Sarah asked.

"Did you know?" Chuck finally asked.

"Chuck. You know I didn't know. Casey said I didn't know. I would have never let that happen. Chuck, you have to believe me that I knew nothing about the order." Sarah was on the verge of panic. She suddenly felt like she was not looking at her husband anymore. The husband she had fought so hard to get back. She was looking at someone different. Someone she had hoped she would never see. In front of her now was her greatest fear. Had the spy life finally striped everything away from Chuck? He had been through so much, and now the betrayal of one of his greatest friends would serve as the tipping point into darkness.

"Sarah. The government tried to have me killed, and why? Because I was an inconvenience. Because I knew too much. I didn't ask for the Intersect. I didn't ask to be thrown into this life. How could they so easily decide that I was expendable? Jill was right. Everything I think I know about what I am fighting for is wrong. The CIA, NSA, and whatever other groups you want to name, they are exactly the same as Smith. All they care about is power. Sarah, I want a normal life, and I want it with you. I thought doing the right thing and bringing men like Smith to justice was what the Intersect was for, but now I am not so sure." Chuck waited for Sarah to respond.

"Chuck, I'm beyond angry to with what the Government has done, but right now we can't focus on that. Smith is the bad guy in all of this. We have to focus our attention on him, and we are going to need Casey for this." Sarah pleaded.

Chuck turned on Sarah with an intensity that she had never seen before. It scared her, and she never got scared. "You really think Smith is the bad guy? What has he done that's any different from what our own Government would do? All we are to them are pawns on a chess board. Fighting down in the trenches and easily sacrificed so the King and Queen can get what they need. Sarah, I don't know what to think, but right now I need to be alone," Chuck said.

"Chuck we're in this together. We can't start unraveling at the seams now. That's what Smith wants," Sarah argued.

"Sarah, get Morgan and take Casey to Castle. Right now I don't care what Smith wants, or the Government. All I know is I have to do what's best for us."

Chuck started back towards the bedroom. Sarah wanted to stop him, but she knew he needed his space right now. She just hoped the damage Smith had caused wasn't going to be the death of Team Bartowski.

* * *

Chuck sat at the end of his bed staring at a picture from their wedding. In the picture he, Casey, and Sarah all stood in a row. Just then Chuck heard a ringing coming from his jacket. On the screen was a picture of Smith. "What do you want Smith?" Chuck yelled into the phone.

"Oh Chuck, don't go taking you little problem out on me. Hope you don't mind but I eaves-dropped on your little conversation, bugged your phone. So sorry that you had to find out the truth that way, but better to know now than never know at all. It goes to show you that they only person you can trust in this world is yourself." Smith let out a chuckle. He was really enjoying himself.

"Can it Smith, you are all the same. The Government, you, or whoever. You all manipulate everyone to gain what you want. I'm tired of the manipulation. I'm tired of it all. Here is the deal Smith. Whatever mission you have planned, I will do. Then Sarah and I disappear forever. I want nothing to do with the spy life any more. It's your one chance offer, and before you go threating my family, don't. If anything happens to any of them I will personally hunt your organization down one by one and kill every last one of you. So Smith, you have an offer on the table. One mission or you never find me again." Chuck replied.

"I must say Chuck, I like the new and improved you. Brooding, threatening, and maybe even a little scary. I'll tell you what, you complete this upcoming mission for me and I'll let you go. My counter is you have to do exactly as I say. No wiggle room because you gain your morals back. This mission will be done exactly the way I want it no questions asked. Do we have a deal Chuck?" Smith waited for a reply.

"We have a deal," Chuck answered as he hung up the phone. Chuck stood up and slowly exited the apartment. As he walked by the fountain he dropped Smith's phone in the water. Chuck knew there was no turning back now. He had a mission to complete. Chuck took a deep breath and hoped that Smith truly believed the show he and his team had just put on, because everything depended on it.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Thank you for all the kind reviews and comments. I really enjoy the feedback. I hope everyone enjoys the new chapter. Thank you again to michaelfmx for all his help and beta services. I don't own Chuck or any of its characters. Enjoy.

* * *

Smith just looked at his phone. "I have to say I like it when Chuck has a little bravado about him. Underneath every boy scout is a little bit of darkness. All you have to do is give it the proper motivation and it will reveal itself," Smith said with a laugh.

"I told you that Chuck's loyalty would be his lynch pin. Now that we have given it a pull, it won't take long for everything Chuck holds dear to come crumbling down," Jill replied.

"Jill, do you remember when you first joined our organization? You had no idea what was happening around you, and now here you are playing a pivotal role in making our dream become a reality," Smith said.

Jill thought back to when she first joined Smith. There was so much she didn't know back then.

* * *

 **Flashback:**

"So what do you think of our humble abode? We have everything you will ever need, and don't worry, soon we will have completely wiped your identity and you will be able to walk free," Smith commented.

Jill was still taking everything in. Just days ago she was on her own running from an enemy that would never give up. "So all of this is for the search and capture of one Bryce Larkin? Hard to believe that he, of all people, is the most sought after man in the world." Jill said with a little bit of a laugh.

Smith bellowed out a large laugh. "I almost forgot that you still don't know the Intersect's little secret. The funny part is that Fulcrum had the Intersect in its hands. Literally, you actually had it in your hands," Smith mustered out between laughs.

"What do you mean I had the Intersect in my hands? I haven't seen Bryce in who knows how long, and now you want to say I had him in my grasp? You're crazy," Jill responded defensively.

"There you go, being short-sighted again. Did you ever wonder why everyone wanted the World to think that Bryce Larkin was the Intersect? The Government has been playing a giant game of misdirection. You see, while everyone is focused on Bryce no one is looking for the true Intersect. Right in front of you, working at your local Buy More," Smith said.

"What do you mean working at the local Buy More? The only government agent that works at the Buy More is John Casey and he is not the Intersect." Jill thought about what Smith was saying. How could the Intersect be at the Buy More. There was no one there qualified the Government would trust with that kind of power. Then it hit her like a bullet. The only person at the Buy More that would fit Smith's idea was Chuck. "You want me to believe that Chuck is the Intersect?" Jill asked.

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner. Tell the lady what she won," Smith laughed. "You see, Mr. Bartowski was sent the Intersect by one Agent Larkin. Now the Government forces Chuck to help Sarah Walker's and John Casey's Government sanctioned missions," Smith said with a smile.

"So let me get this straight, you want me to believe that all the Government's secrets are in Chuck's head. You are crazier than I thought. Great, just great. I've agreed to work for a mad man." Jill's rant was interrupted by the loud bang of a file hitting the table in front of her. "What's this?" Jill asked.

"That is all the proof you will need to that Chuck is the Intersect. Take your time and read up. When you're ready to listen come into my office and we can talk," Smith said as he left the room.

Jill read the file in front of her and had to admit she was surprised. Chuck wasn't only the Intersect, but he was also a hero. He seemed to always be willing to put himself in danger to either save the day or his team. Jill stood up from the table and headed into Smith's office. "So let's say that I believe what your file says. What is your organization's obsession with Chuck?" Jill asked.

"Glad you could ask. Our obsession isn't with Chuck per say. It's with information. Who's the scariest man in the room? The one with all the muscle or the ones with all the secrets? You see, we believe that it is the man with all the secrets. When you know everyone's dirty little secrets, you negate their muscle. That is what the Intersect represents. It's all the Government's secrets wrapped up with a bow. If we can control the Intersect, we can control it all," Smith replied.

"Why do you need me if you already know that Chuck is the Intersect? Surely you have enough fire power to grab him and make him disappear?" Jill asked.

"Jill, you are being short-sighted again!" Smith snapped." You aren't with Fulcrum anymore. You need to start looking at the big picture. Right now the Intersect is limited. Yes, it has the NSA's and the CIA's secrets, but we want more. We want everyone's secrets. The only way to get that is to ensure that the Intersect is a success. We are hedging our bets that Chuck can make this thing work, and with his continued success, the Government will only want to evolve the Intersect further. That's why we don't just grab Chuck. We want him to succeed," Smith commented.

"What about his team? Do you think that Sarah and Casey can be trusted to help Chuck succeed?" Jill asked.

"Do you really have to ask? You saw how they behaved towards each other. Chuck has at least compromised Sarah, and honestly he has probably gotten to Casey as well. We have been watching Chuck since he got his gift. Really I'm kind of tired of the whole will they or won't they between Chuck and Miss Walker. I wish they would just get on with it already. I mean, who do they think they're fooling," Smith said with a laugh.

* * *

 **Present day:**

"We've manipulated everything in Chuck's life since the day he got the Intersect. He has outperformed even our expectations. We pointed anyone we could find at Chuck and he out lasted them all. The Government did exactly what we thought they would. They took Team Bartowski's success and doubled down on their Intersect dream. Do you think Chuck even realizes all the secrets that are in his head?" Smith questioned.

"I'd say Chuck is clueless about the extent and depth of the information in his head. We have manipulated everything to such an extent that I am positive nobody in the Government knows what is going on. Smith, you have shown me the true power of the Intersect. At first I thought the Intersect was just a weapon to be wielded, but now I see that the Intersect is actually just a means to an end. Are you really going to let Chuck go?" Jill asked.

"I'm the bad guy. I don't think I've ever been accused of being a man of my word. Besides, by the time I'm done with Chuck he'll be begging to join us. The next step is the mission and then we convince Chuck to help us." Smith just laughed as he knew that everything that he and his organization had been working for was coming to fruition. Since they had discovered the Intersect they had done everything to push its growth. When September 11th happened, they used their connections to push the reformation of the Intersect project. That is how they functioned. They took events from the outside world and used them to accomplish their ultimate goals. Now, everything they had worked for was right in front them. All they had to do was manipulate one little nerd and they would have it all.

* * *

Chuck sat in the courtyard next to the fountain engulfed in silence. The world around him was so quiet all Chuck could do was think about the chaos that was his life. He was stuck in a deadly game and all he could hope was that his plan would allow him to come out victorious. The plan was in full motion. Chuck stared at the fountain in front of him. The water cascading from tier to tier was hypnotic. The bubbling soothed Chuck into a trance. The calming effect of the water allowed Chuck's mind to relax after the events that had just passed. He thought back to the real revelation of Casey's news.

* * *

 **Flashback: Castle secure room.**

"Ok Chuck, what is this plan Sarah says you've cooked up?" Casey asked.

"Smith is always one move ahead of us. They've been watching us for at least five years. The way I see it, the only chance we have at survival is to flip the script. We have to use Smith's arrogance against him. We have to bring the battle to him," Chuck commented.

A grin slowly appeared on Casey's face. Chuck was showing some backbone and he had to believe that he was a big reason Chuck was able to do that. "Ok moron, what is my part in all of this?" Casey asked.

"Before we get into the who, what, when, where, and how's, there is something else we need to discuss. Smith and his organization have been watching us and they believe that they know everything there is to know about us. We can use that to our advantage. Smith is going to try to divide us, or at least make us question our allegiances. Here and now we need to lay it all out. If there are any secrets or lies between us we need to tell each other now," Chuck said as he looked over at Sarah and Casey. He knew what he was asking, but there was no choice. It was better to air everything out on their terms and not Smith's. Chuck allowed his gaze to wonder between Sarah and Casey. He knew he had nothing to share, but he knew that their relationship hadn't always been the family one that is was now.

"Chuck, I don't keep secrets from you. You know that. There are still things in my past that I haven't shared, but nothing Smith can use against us. My family is….well, complicated. You have met my dad so you know what I mean," Sarah said.

Chuck and Sarah both turned their gaze to Casey. He was being awfully quiet, even for him. Casey let out a slight grunt and turned towards Chuck. "I think you and I need to have a man to man conversation," Casey replied.

"Come on Casey, you know anything you need to say to me, you can say in front of Sarah. We don't have any secrets between us," Chuck replied.

"I understand all of that Bartowski, but this is big. I also like all my limbs where they are currently attached, and when your wife hears this I am not sure they will remain there," Casey said.

Chuck and Sarah shared a concerned glance. What could have the mighty Casey so on edge? What secret could he have that had him worried about his wellbeing with his own team.

"Casey, I promise to hear you out before I react," Sarah replied.

"Fine then, but don't say I didn't warn you. It goes back to the beginning of Operation Bartowski. Graham and Beckman were desperately trying to get the Intersect back online," Casey started.

Sarah thought back to those days. When Chuck was just the Intersect and nothing more. Not like that was true to her. Maybe to Graham and Beckman he was just the Intersect, but his charm made quick work of her right from the beginning. She had always feared what would have happened if Chuck's replacement came online, and now she had a sinking feeling Casey was about to reveal that her fears weren't without merit.

"They were finally able to get the new Intersect off the ground when we apprehended Mr. Colt and got the cypher from him. With the new Intersect almost online) I got an order from our commanding officers. I was to eliminate the first Intersect." Casey paused, unsure what the reaction to this news would be.

Upon hearing these words Chuck quickly turned to Sarah. He placed both his hands on her shoulders) keeping her in her chair. "Remember Sarah, you agreed to hear him out," Chuck reminded her.

"I know I agreed to hear him out, but that was before I knew that he was ordered to kill you. What am I supposed to do? Just sit here and listen to some explanation about honor and orders, because he wouldn't have the spine to go against the powers that be?" Sarah yelled in anger while giving Casey a glare that would have killed a lesser man.

"Sarah, please hear him out for me. I'm sure there is a lot more to it," Chuck pleaded.

Sarah gave Chuck a nod and returned her death stare towards one John Casey. Chuck turned to Casey and began to speak, but before he could get a word out a knife whizzed past his ear and embedded itself in the wall next to Casey's head. Chuck returned his gaze to Sarah, giving her a confused look.

"Just wanted to let him know what is going to happen if I don't like the rest of his story," Sarah commented.

Chuck just shook his head and turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

I was the first Intersect. You were ordered to eliminate me. Why?" Chuck asked.

"Chuck, Graham and Beckman were concerned with having the Government's secrets out there walking freely. They couldn't trust that someone wouldn't discover your identity and then capture and torture you for the intel," Casey replied.

"Ok, so the order was given, but you didn't go through with it. That means no harm no foul. Am I right? You didn't try to go through with it, did you? I mean obviously you didn't go through with it, because John Casey always get his man. But I'm standing right here quite alive, so that means you stopped it. You put those two in their place, right Casey? Right Casey," Chuck yelled.

Sarah listened to the exchange between two of the most important people in her life. She always knew this kind of order was a possibility, but she never imagined John Casey would have gone through with it. Yes, John was a hard ass, by the book Marine, but even he would admit that Chuck had gone above and beyond the call of duty. A call that he never chose, but instead one that was forced upon him. Sarah thought she knew her partner. He was the best partner she had ever had. They have had their ups and downs, but this took the cake. The truth of the matter was that her anger wasn't due so much about the order, but more due to the fact that her partner and friend had kept it from her all this time. If he would have told her about the order, she could have protected Chuck. The idea that, at any time, Chuck could have been taken from her and Casey knew about it all along was difficult to get her head around. That was a betrayal Sarah couldn't forgive.

"Chuck, I fought to have the order canceled, but they wouldn't have it. I told them you were an American hero that had never asked for any of this, and you served your country honorably. They agreed about your service, but that you could die serving your country as well. Chuck, I had you in my sites that night, but I don't know what I was going to do," Casey stopped his confession to look at his team. Suddenly, Chuck was in his face.

"What do you mean I was in your sites? You actually had a gun pointed at me! You were going to shoot me because you were ordered to? I know we haven't always seen eye to eye, but really, you could shoot me even back then? I know I didn't listen. Stay in the car Chuck. Don't be a hero Chuck. Don't get your panties in a bunch moron. I heard it all from you, but I would have never thought it would have sunk to that level," Chuck replied, clearly letting his emotions get the better of him.

"Chuck, I had you in my sites but I don't think I could have pulled the trigger. Even in the beginning I respected you. Maybe I didn't always show it, but you served your country without ever being asked. The first night with the bomb, you ran in head first without hesitation. You knew people were in danger and you did what needed to be done. Not everyone can do that, and you did it time and time again. I didn't always agree with your methods, and there were times you frustrated me to levels I didn't know possible, but killing you was never an option I considered…until I got that termination order," Casey responded.

The two men continued to argue back and forth as Sarah sat at the conference table, numb with shock. All of this was news to her. Could everything have really ended before it ever began? She knew the Government was capable of untold horrors, but she had always hoped that this particular horror would never come to pass. She thought that Chuck's charm had affected all of them in its own ways. Suddenly she could not take anymore. "Stop it! Both both of you," Sarah yelled, bringing herself out of her own thoughts.

Chuck and Casey stopped, both turning their eyes to her. In all their time together they both knew not to cross Sarah when she took that tone. "Okay Casey, I promised to hear you out, but you'd better hurry up and say something that is going to stop me from doing what I'm about to do," Sarah said as she removed another knife from the sheath strapped to her leg.

Chuck calmed himself and looked at Sarah. She gave him a look that told him to back down. Chuck took a deep breath and slowly walked to her side. The couple looked at Casey. Sarah gave him a nod.

"Okay, well I guess here goes. I have thought about that night often since it happened. We had just apprehend Colt and reclaimed the cypher. Graham and General Beckman contacted me to inform me of the next part of my mission. I tried to change their mind, but, as I mentioned, to no avail. I knew that Sarah was arriving for dinner later that evening. I thought about waiting until after your dinner was over, but then I made a decision. I knew Sarah was compromised, and I knew that you didn't deserve to be terminated…. not this way and not by me. I decided to wait until after she arrived. She would stop me, and she would protect you no matter what. Here is the part you both need to understand. I needed them to think that I was going to go through with the mission, because I wanted to be assigned to finding you. That way I could steer the investigation away from you giving you two a chance. Then, when the Intersect was destroyed I made another decision. I was never going to allow this situation to repeat itself. Remember the identities I gave you to run from Decker? I created those identities specifically for you two."

Sarah heard his words, and her anger began to slowly subside. John Casey wasn't the best with expressing feelings, hell neither was she. But right there, with that last comment, he had said exactly what she needed to know. Casey had done everything he could to protect them. Yes, she might not agree with his methods, but she understood them. She looked at Casey and at Chuck. She wasn't quite sure how she got here but she was happy she had. The old Sarah wouldn't have let Casey get past his first proclamation. Now though, with some help from Chuck, she was able to do something she never thought possible…forgive.

Chuck and Sarah looked at each other. Neither one of them really knew how to respond. They turned back to Casey. "Why didn't you tell us about this before now?" Chuck asked.

"Chuck, I needed all my superiors to think that I was still willing to go through with it. If I told you and Sarah what happened, you would have let your lady feelings out and Beckman would have known that I was compromised. Then the next order would have been a surprise to all of us. That is why I made those identies up. I had multiple contingency plans put together for your escape. Look, I don't know what you want me to say. I have said more feelings stuff in the last ten minutes then I have in my entire life." Casey's apology was interrupted by a strike from Sarah, but it wasn't the strike he had expected. He assumed he would be in multiple pieces by now praying for a quick demise, but instead he was wrapped in a hug. _My God Bartowski has really made us soft_ , he thought.

"Okay Walker, I know the what here, but I have to say the why is eluding me at the moment. I just admitted I was ordered to kill your husband and your response is to give me a hug," Casey shrugged.

Casey looked over at Chuck and they both exchanged a confused look.

"Casey, I'm trying the Bartowski way. You know, since I am one now. I'm forgiving you. Ellie and Chuck both forgave me when I forgot everything. They did it because we're family, and with everything you just said your family too," Sarah replied.

Chuck was still angry, but the look on Sarah's face and her message was enough to melt his heart. Not like he could ever argue with her anyway. "Sarah, you know you are dangerously close to being sappy."

Sarah rolled her eyes at Chuck and returned her focus to Casey. "I know the two of you have to probably grunt a few more times, bump chests, and whatever else you two need to do to iron this out," Sarah said as she walked out of the room.

Casey and Chuck looked at each other. "Well this is a first," Casey commented.

"What's that?" Chuck asked.

"I think this is the first time I have witnessed you speechless Bartowski," Casey replied.

"Well, I'm a little in shock. Found out one of my best friends was ordered to kill me, and then to top it off, my wife goes and shows her lady feelings and forgives him. I would have really thought she would have at least thrown a few more knifes your way. That woman never ceases to amaze me. Casey I believe you when you say you wouldn't have gone through with it. I also know you would have done anything to stop that order happening again. Guess I still have to have a talk with a certain fiery red head, but there will be a better time for that down the road." Chuck extended his hand towards Casey. Chuck wasn't completely okay with the information that he had just been given, but he knew he could trust his team and this was exactly the type of information that Smith would try to use against them.

Casey let out a quiet grunt and shook Chuck's hand. He knew that this group had become more than a team over the years. They had become a family, and together he knew they could get through this. These were the two best spies that he had ever had the privilege of working with. "Ok, now that we have all of this out of the way, can we please get back to the plan?" Casey inquired.

"Fine. Let's get everybody back in here and get the show on the road," Chuck replied.

* * *

 **Present day:**

Chuck came out of his thoughts. It was time to get the show on the road. It wasn't going to take Smith long to figure out what the team was up to. Chuck stood up and left the courtyard. Hopefully soon, he and Sarah would be enjoying their dream house, but first there was an evil mastermind to knock down a peg or two.

Chuck entered Castle. He took in the scene in front of him. Casey was secured in a holding cell with Verbanski. Morgan and Sarah were both pacing in the conference room. Chuck had a feeling that Smith had bought their little performance. He just hoped that they could keep the charade going. His plan hinged on Smith feeling in control. As Chuck was about to address his team, Smith appeared on the monitor behind Sarah and Morgan.

"Oh Team Bartowski, I'm so sorry to see you all in disarray, but, ah who am I kidding, I love it. Now that we have that out of the way, it is time to for some mission prep. Remember that Intersect room you guys just destroyed a few weeks ago?" Smith asked.

"Quinn destroyed that room," Sarah replied.

"I think we're splitting hairs at this point. The room was destroyed and you guys were all there. You might have thought that when that room was destroyed that the Intersect was destroyed with it. Well that isn't entirely true. That room housed the Intersect glasses and an upload chamber yes, but it didn't house the actual Intersect. After the Intersect had been destroyed a couple of times and uploaded by the wrong people, the Government wised up. They split the Intersect into multiple steps. The intel from all the branches of the military, the FBI, the CIA, the DEA, the NSA, and well you get the picture, is collected on a regular basis. This intel all funnels into multiple locations and is slowly filtered until it is all loaded in the Intersect. The new Intersect in your brain, Chuck, has everyone's secrets loaded into it. All this Intel is uploaded at multiple locations. Then the Intel travels over dedicated fiber optic lines from multiple locations to the main hub. You see Chuck, the people involved at all the multiple locations have no idea that the other locations exist. The only place all the data connects is at the final upload site, and very few people know where this final step happens," Smith said.

"And let me guess you know exactly where this location is?" Chuck asked.

Smith didn't say anything he just pointed at Chuck and then placed his finger on his nose. "You see Chuck, from the final location the data is placed on a pair of Intersect glasses. Then multiple pairs of glasses leave the location and only the true Intersect pair goes to the room that you destroyed. All the other pairs are fakes and go to facilities spread out across the country. All you have to do is break into the final upload site and hack the information before it can be loaded into the Intersect glasses. You know, easy in and out job," Smith said with a laugh.

"So let me get this straight. You want us to intercept intel that comes from multiple secure facilities and goes to what I am assuming is an even more secure facility that nobody knows the location of? Then you want me to syphon off that Intel to you and allow you to have back door access to all the Government's secrets. Smith, I think that you over estimate what my team is capable of. Oh and don't forget you decided to drop your bomb, so now the Team is down one member," Chuck replied.

"Oh, can't you and Casey kiss and make up?" Smith asked with smile on his face. "Come on Chuck. One little termination order and you're willing to throw away years of friendship? You know Chuck, if you were a member of our organization you would never have to worry about such an order. We would use you to your full potential. Just something to think about," Smith added.

"Smith, you can stop with the mind games. I will handle this team however I see fit, so why don't you keep your opinion to yourself," Chuck commented back.

"What do you mean you will handle this team? We're a team Chuck, don't forget that," Sarah pleaded.

"Right now Sarah, I just need everybody to shut up and listen to me. This isn't up for any kind of discussion. Smith and I have a deal. We complete this mission and he is going to leave us all alone."

"Hey, hold the phone. Did you make a deal with Smith without talking to us?" Morgan asked.

"Yes Morgan, I did. I'm doing what's best for this team and for my family. Morgan, you just need to stay in Castle and keep out of the way. We aren't playing Call of Duty here. This is real. I don't have time to keep everybody happy," Chuck snapped.

"Oh, I see how it is. You can decide what's best for all of us and do whatever you want. What happened to us being in this together? We're a team and, more importantly, a family. You can't make decisions like this without us," Sarah yelled.

"Everybody stop," Chuck yelled.

Chuck turned away from the monitor and gave Sarah a quick wink. "This is my op now. Smith and I have a deal and I plan on holding up my end of the bargain. You guys can either decide to be with me or against me, but I will do it with or without you," Chuck ordered.

"Wow, never thought I would see the day when Team Bartowski would be at each other like this. Who would have thought that little old me could cause all of this disarray," Smith added to the conversation. "Tell you what, I will get the Intel to you while you guys figure out your issues. Just don't forget Chuck, part of the deal was this op goes exactly as I say." With that Smith disappeared from the screen.

Chuck signaled for everyone to meet in the secure room. Sarah and Morgan turned and exited the conference room. Chuck took a deep breath. Now they know the mission, and with any luck they will be able to keep up the charade long enough to bring Smith and his organization to justice.

* * *

Smith looked at Jill with a huge smile on his face. "Well, I guess you could say Operation Chaos is going exactly as we intended," Smith said.

"I agree, but don't you think it's going too well?" Jill asked.

"You see, that is the one weakness of Team Bartowski. Their sense of family. They feel like they know and can trust each other. When you remove that, those same traits turn into hurt, distrust, and anger. Now all we have to do is continue to apply pressure. We've studied this team for years and we know all of their moves. They rely on their trust and loyalty, and now that we have shaken that it won't take much to break it," Smith answered.

"What about the mission?" Jill asked.

"The mission will succeed. We might have to help a little bit, but they will get the Intel. We've shaken the team, but I don't think we can shake Chuck and Sarah. They always seem to stay together no matter what happens. It's just another thing we can use against them. Everything is going exactly according to plan. It's just a matter of time before Chuck joins us and we have everything that we have worked for. So what do you say Jill? Let's get to work." Smith just smirked unaware that he wasn't the only one playing mind games on this particular mission.

* * *

Moss grew up the east side of the building. To the north, windows were boarded or broken. It was a building time forgot. No sign of what this building used to be. A building that while in its prime, was quite a sight to behold. It was at the center of the intelligence community. In its glory (days,) every spy dreamed of working there. It was a secret CIA substation during the cold war. Now it sat abandoned, or so they make you think. In all reality the most important and powerful weapon sat hidden behind its halls. The secrets it held were worth more than any one person could imagine. Sitting in front of the building was a spy team. It might not be the most tradional spy team, but it might be one of the best.

"So let me get this straight. We're going to break into this top secret Government facility and steal all its secrets and hand them over to a madman?" Morgan asked.

"I know Morgan, this isn't the best plan we've ever had, but it's the only plan we have," Chuck replied.

"Oh no Chuck, I'm not questioning you. I learned with Volkoff, if Chuck Bartowski has a plan it's going to be a good one. I just wanted to double check before we do this," Morgan commented.

"Now that you two have that all squared away, let's review the plan," Casey interjected.

"The plan, right. The plan where we break into a Government facility with more security than Fort Knox, oh and ya, we do it without being detected," Sarah replied.

"What Walker, you getting soft on me?" Casey asked.

"Soft. You're joking right? This stuff is a walk in the park compared to protecting the Intersect," Sarah joked as she gave Chuck a wink.

"Come on guys, it wasn't all bad. I know I could be a pain, but you have to admit I brought a pretty good vibe to our stake outs," Chuck joked.

"Oh my God. I'm surrounded by amateurs," Gertrude barked.

"Just another day in the life of Operation Bartowski. Don't worry, you get used to it. Well kinda," Casey remarked.

"You hear that Chuck? Casey just gave you a compliment. He just admitted that we have grown on him," Morgan added.

"Hey numbnuts. Don't make me regret letting you tag along. Oh, and don't forget," Casey said as he was quickly interrupted.

"I know, stay in the van Morgan. Chuck, did you ever get used to getting ordered to stay in the van?" Morgan questioned.

"Morgan, he would of had to actually stay in the car to know if he ever got used to it," Sarah replied.

"Ok guys, I say we get this little mission back on point. Remember, Smith still thinks we can't stand each other right now. Once we leave this van he'll be listening. We need this to go down exactly as we planned. We almost have all the leverage we need to flip the script. If we can do this) we might just survive this," Chuck added.

The unconventional team sat ready to storm a building that would cause even the most seasoned agents to soil themselves. Not this team. They had been in this situation so many times before that this just seemed like another day in the office. They were all in and it was time to play the hand of their lives.

"Ok, everybody get into positon. Once we breach the perimeter we won't have much time. We get one shot at this, so we'd better make it count," Chuck ordered.

"Casey and Verbanski in position," Casey replied.

"Sarah and I are ready to go," Chuck responded.

"Ok then, here we go," Sarah said as the teams breached the building's exterior.

Morgan sat in the van for what seemed like an eternity. The plan was for them to be in and out in ten minutes. Morgan continued to look at his watch and at the monitors, which displayed security feeds that Chuck had been able to tap into. The timer on Morgan's watch was counting down and getting dangerously close to the point of no return. If his team didn't get out of there soon it was going to cause a huge problem. Just then, Chuck and Sarah appeared on his monitor. They were rushing towards the exit. Morgan couldn't tell what was unfolding in front of him, but he knew he'd better be ready to leave in a hurry. He quickly moved to the front of the van and prepared for a quick getaway. Suddenly, the doors opened and Casey and Verbanski burst in.

"Where are Walker and the Moron?" Casey asked as he tried to catch his breath.

Before Morgan was able to answer Chuck and Sarah appeared from behind the building in a full sprint. "Go, go, go, Morgan," Chuck yelled.

Morgan started the van and began to roll out as Chuck and Sarah leaped in the side door, closing it behind them.

"That looked like fun," Morgan joked.

Chuck gave Morgan a quick eye roll then looked around the van to ensure that his team was still intact. He had to admit he was pleasantly surprised to find that not only were they all intact, but they had accomplished their mission. His team…no his family, never ceased to amaze him.

"So was the mission a success?" Morgan asked.

Chuck held up a tablet in his hand, a large grin appearing on his face.

"Good, good. Now I can breathe," Morgan replied as he turned his attention back to the road.

"Well, what do you guys say we take the fight to Smith's door?" Chuck asked.

All Team Bartowski could do was smile. They finally had the final piece of the puzzle to bring Smith down, and nothing was going to stop them from using it.


	17. Chapter 17

AN: Hope everyone is doing well. Thank you for the patience on this chapter. It took me a while to get his chapter to go the way I pictured. Thank you to michaelfmx for his beta and sound board services. Well no more delay. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think. I don't own Chuck or any of it characters.

* * *

The battle between good and evil had raged on since the dawn of man and tonight was no different. Yet tonight the battle for power wouldn't be settled at the front lines. No, tonight the balance of power sat in a Buy More parking lot. Yes, a national electronic store chain was about to serve as the battle ground between good and evil. This wasn't your standard Buy More. It had been at the center of the intelligence world for the past five years, even if most of the intelligence world had no idea.

A black van pulled into the parking lot from the north. Inside the van was the best spy team in the business. They had done everything by the book. They had swept their surroundings for anything out of the ordinary, and everything seemed up to par. Part of the spy business was trusting your gut and everything indicated that tonight was the night. Morgan Grimes exited the driver's seat and slowly took in his surroundings. "Hey Chuck look, they got the new signs on the Orange Orange," Morgan proclaimed.

"That's good Morgan, but let's keep our eyes on the prize," Chuck commented.

The rest of the team exited the van and began to do a final sweep before entering Castle. Just then, they hear the sound of applause coming from the alley. "Chuck, I have to admit I wasn't even sure you and your team could pull this mission off, but hey, I am not too proud to admit when I'm wrong," Smith said as he emerged from the shadows, with Jill right behind him.

Team Bartowski quickly drew their weapons and took aim. "Smith, I know you weren't dumb enough to show up with just the two of you, so why don't you show us the rest of our guests," Sarah yelled.

Smith raised his right hand and a red dot appeared on Chuck's chest. "As you can see I have you guys covered, and I'm willing to bet you aren't going to risk one of your teammates just to take a shot at me," Smith replied with a smile.

"Ok Smith. We get it. The drop isn't until tomorrow. Care to share why you're here a day early?" Chuck asked.

"Oh, Chuck. I think you know the answer to that question. Did you really think that I would give you a whole twenty-four hours with that intel? I know how that beautiful mind of yours works. I'm sure what you could do in that time would spell trouble for me," Smith answered.

The two sides exchanged glances, neither one wanting to show their hand. "Ok fine, I'll break the silence. The tension is just killing me. How about you hand me the intel and I'll disappear into the shadows. But don't worry Chuck, I'll be in touch," Smith said.

"Now wait a minute. We had a deal. I get you the Intel and you leave us alone. I don't ever want to see you again, and if you come near my family then we'll have a major problem," Chuck replied, with an anger in his voice that was rare for him.

"Well, you see Chuck, when you're making a deal with the Devil, it pays to remember that…..well it is the Devil. Why would I let such a strong asset as Team Bartowski free? What kind of sense would that make? I mean, you don't get the best weapon in the world and then let it go. Now, with the Intel that you've gotten for me, that weapon is only going to get stronger. Don't worry, I'll leave your family alone as long as you play ball. Man, it's great to be the Devil," Smith said with a laugh.

Before Smith knew what was happening, Chuck had both his hands on his jacket. "I think that you're underestimating who you're dealing with Mr. Smith. I'm not handing you this Intel without the assurance that you're going to leave us…..all of us, alone. This is nonnegotiable, so let me say this one time and one time only. If I hand this tablet over to you, there it's going to be the last time that we ever see each other," Chuck yelled.

"Chuck, I think it's you that has misjudged who you're dealing with," Smith said, as he removed Chuck's hands from his jacket. "I get what I want when I want. I would hate to have to remind you of the power that I possess, but I think a little show of power is needed," Smith added as he raised his right hand. Immediately, a red dot appeared on Casey's head. "Well Chuck, you've tried my patience for the last time. Someone from your team is not going to survive tonight, but I'm not without compassion. I'll allow you to choose who that someone is. It could be the brooding John Casey, the babbling Morgan Grimes, the beautiful Gertrude Verbanski, or last, but definitely not least, the amazing Sarah Bartowski. You see Chuck, it's time for you to decide," Smith said, giving Chuck a look laced with venom.

"Ok Smith, you've made your point. I get it. I'm backing away slowly. Here's the Intel." Chuck tossed the tablet to Smith. "No need to take this any further. I see your muscle, no need to flex any further," Chuck pleaded.

"Not sure that's going to be enough Mr. Bartowski. You see, once I make a threat, I have no choice but to follow through. What kind of sociopath would I be if I didn't shed a little blood every once in a while?" Smith raised his right hand again and the dot moved around from member to member.

"Well, since you won't pick, I guess I'll have to make the decision for you," Smith said as he raised three fingers. Just then the dot moved to Morgan.

"No Smith, he has nothing to do with this," Chuck yelled as he moved in front of Morgan as fast as he could. The sound of a bullet rang through the air. It cut through the darkness with only one goal, to find its target. Then it collided right where it had been aimed.

Chuck felt everywhere on his body and felt nothing. He looked at Morgan and all he did was shrug his shoulders. They both turned their attention to the remainder of their team. Casey was covering Gertrude and both grunted as they looked over at Chuck. Suddenly, it hit Chuck like a freight train. He turned his attention towards Sarah. She was standing there with a blank stare on her face. Her hands were covering her stomach. She lifted her hand to reveal blood. She looked down at it for a moment and then lost her ability to stand. She fell just as Chuck slid in to catch her. "Sarah! No baby. Stay with me, please stay with me," Chuck pleaded.

"Chuck. I need you to look at me," Sarah pleaded.

"Sarah, I am right here. You're going to be fine. Just hold on for a little bit. Morgan…..Casey….somebody help," Chuck pleaded.

"Chuck, don't worry about me. I know what's happening. Chuck, you have to promise me something. Please promise me you'll grant me this one last request," Sarah pleaded as she struggled to breath.

"Of course, Sarah, what is it?" Chuck asked.

"Chuck no, you have to promise me first. Please promise," Sarah pleaded again.

"Sarah, I promise. Whatever it is, I promise," Chuck answered, no longer being able to hold back his tears.

"You have to promise me that you won't let this take you from the world. Don't let what Smith has done change you. The world is such a better place with you in it. Chuck, my life began the day I met you, and every day since then has been the best time of my life. So right now promise me that the Chuck I fell in love with, my Chuck, will still exist in the world after I'm gone," Sarah pleaded, as she started to grow cold and everything was getting dark.

"Sarah, please don't close your eyes. You need to focus on me. Sarah, I promise I'll try, but you're going to make it. Baby, you have to stay with me. I can't do this without you. We're going to have the house with the white picket fence, the red front door, and the family that we were going to raise together. Please Sarah, stay with me," Chuck begged, as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Chuck, you can do this. It's ok. I love you, always have," Sarah whispered as her world slowly faded to black.

Smith watched on as the scene unfolded in front of him. It wasn't exactly how he'd planned for the evening to go, but not much he could do about it now. "Well Chuck, you see what you made me do. I'll give you some time to grieve, but I'll be in touch," Smith said as he turned to walk away.

Casey approached Smith and quickly picked up his previously discarded weapon. "Smith, I'm going to tear you limb, from limb, from limb," Casey barked.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Smith responded with a nod towards Gertrude. "I don't think you want to see act two of this play."

Casey looked over at Gertrude to see that the red dot had now made its way to her. He quickly lowered his weapon and headed towards Chuck. "Chuck," Casey said as he placed his hand on his shoulder. "She was an amazing wife, partner, and friend. Know this, I'll help you with whatever you need," Casey said as a single tear began to form in his eye.

"Well this is all very moving, but I would say it's time for me to go," Smith concluded as he again began to leave.

"Smith," Chuck yelled.

Smith turned to see something he had never seen before. This wasn't the normal Chuck Bartowski he was used to seeing. Chuck's eyes no longer had the look of hope, joy, and optimism. No, all of those traits had been replaced with a darkness. Now the man that stood before him appeared to be devoid of any emotion. He wasn't sure what to expect, but he was still confident since he knew he had the area covered by his men.

"Smith, I think that you've misjudged me. You see, now that you've taken her away from me, there's nothing that I won't do to bring you down. Don't bother to threaten my family. They'll be so far hidden that you won't ever find them. I'm about to bring down a wrath on you like you've never seen before," Chuck replied.

"I know this is the grief talking, so I'll let it slide. Like I said, I'll let you deal with this and then get in touch," Smith added.

Chuck began to let out a slight chuckle as a tear ran down his face.

"What's so funny Mr. Bartowski?" Smith asked.

"Nothing Smith. I just can't believe that you really think I'm going to let you leave without taking something from you first. I see how you look at her when you're around her. You probably won't admit it, but I know. So now I'm going to let you know how it feels to watch someone you care about die right in front of you."

Chuck raised his gun and took a shot. Jill grabbed her chest and fell to the ground. Smith looked on in terror. He didn't think Chuck could become a killer. Yes, he knew Sarah's death would have a huge impact, but after the Shaw incident in Paris he didn't think Chuck could cross that line again. Before Smith could react bullets began to scream from all directions. The sniper was laying down cover fire, allowing Smith to get away. Team Bartowski was taking cover and returning fire in the general direction of the sniper's perch. Smith quickly entered the car. "Drive, damn it drive," Smith yelled.

"Where is Ms. Roberts?" the driver asked.

"She's gone," Smith replied.

Smith looked down at the tablet. It was a bigger price then he planned on paying for this Intel, but it wasn't like he really had a choice. His bosses didn't care that he'd grown attached to Jill. All they wanted was what was on this tablet. He was going to figure out what the heck had just happened, but right now, he had to get that Intel loaded into their data base.

The gun fire came to a stop and Team Bartowski slowly took in the scene.

"Well, was that scary enough for everybody?" Chuck asked.

"I can tell you, I sure believed it," Sarah responded as she slowly sat up.

"How do you feel baby?" Chuck asked.

"Little groggy from the meds, but the antidote seems to be working. Other than that I feel great," Sarah said.

Chuck quickly closed the distance between them and took Sarah in his arms. "That was too real for me," Chuck replied as he gave Sarah a passionate kiss.

"Hey love birds, what do you say we get off the streets and keep the plan on track?" Casey grunted.

"I would say that's a great idea," Sarah replied as she caught her breath.

The final phase of Team Bartowski's plan was now in full swing and it was time to end this once and for all.

* * *

Jill Roberts was surrounded by complete darkness. She knew this day would come, but at the hands of Chuck Bartowski? That was a twist she never saw coming. She thought back to their time at Stanford. Maybe, had things been different, she could have fooled herself into being happy with him. Jill started to gain feeling in her extremities. If she had to guess, she wasn't in heaven. She just hoped, wherever she was, wasn't as bad as what she actually deserved. Her eyes felt heavy, but she was regaining use of them. She feared what she would see when she opened them. Chuck had ended her life and now she would be forced to face the fate she had dealt herself. As she slowly opened her eyes, she was a little surprised at what she saw first.

"Well, I must be in hell if I have to spend eternity with you," Jill managed to say.

"Don't think you're that lucky," Sarah replied.

"Yeah, if anyone is going to spend eternity with this lovely lady, it is going to be me," a voice said from the distance.

"Chuck, is that you?" Jill asked.

"It can't be. I know that Sarah and I bit the big one, but if you're here, what happened after you shot me?" Jill continued.

"Slow down Jill. Nobody's dead. It was all for show. Come on, do you really think so little of me that I would actually kill you?" Chuck asked.

"But I saw Smith's sniper shoot you. I hired the man myself, and trust me when I say that he doesn't miss." Jill responded.

"Oh trust me I know, but we had a little help," Sarah responded.

Just then, Mary Bartowski came around the corner with rifle in hand.

"Chuck, next time you end up in a situation like this, you'd better let me know a lot sooner than this. I don't like fake killing my favorite daughter-in-law," Mary joked.

"How is that possible? I mean how are you here? We had eyes on all forms of communication and you were never in touch with anyone outside of your team," Jill snarled as her frustration began to set in.

"Doesn't anyone check their mail anymore?" Chuck joked, as he held up an envelope and stamp.

"Jill, I've been in contact with my mother the entire time. I let her know the minute Smith appeared. I knew I would need her, but I also knew that I needed an ace in the hole, so to speak. In today's world, what is the one form of communication that everyone takes for granted? Snail mail. It's in our life's every day, and yet we pay no attention to it. Once my mom got my letter, she started rounding up some of her old spy friends. I knew Smith would never let me keep the intel, so I let my mom and her team know. They intercepted your sniper and then that's when the games began," Chuck said with a large smile spread across his face.

"First, I noticed the sign on the outside of the Orange Orange. That was Mrs. B's way of telling us she was in position and we were safe," Morgan chimed in as he entered the room.

"Next I had to get Smith riled up, so I decided to show off my serious side," Chuck added.

"I intercepted Smith's plan when we got the sniper, so I knew that Morgan was the target," Mary added.

Morgan let out a slight whimper as he heard the news.

"Don't worry Morgan, I was never going to let anything happen to you," Mary quickly responded.

"What about when the sniper shot Sarah? I saw it with my own two eyes. I saw her take her last breath," Jill questioned.

"Oh, that part was easy. Mary shot a blank for the sound we needed. Then all I had to do was break a blood capsule into my stomach. The last breath part took a little bit of medical assistance, but Chuck made sure to give me the antidote," Sarah added as she turned her gaze towards her husband and allowed a slight smile to come across her face.

"Let's say I believe everything that you've told me. That doesn't explain how you shot me," Jill replied.

"Again easy. A while back we intercepted some smart bullets from a weapons dealer. I revamped the technology. My smart bullets are programed to not only hit the specific target, but instead of being fatal, they deal a heavy dose of a strong sedative. Add some fake blood to the bullet and it looked very convincing. Doesn't hurt when a fire fight breaks out right after. You know, look at the bird so you don't notice what the hand is doing," Chuck replied with a laugh.

"Not sure you got that saying right bud," Morgan added.

"You sure about that?" Chuck asked with a puzzled look.

"OK, now that you have me, what happens now?" Jill quickly intervened before the two friends could go off on a tangent.

"Well Jill, I think it's time for you to pay the piper. When this is done, there is a certain little red head General waiting for you," Sarah responded as the team started to exit the room.

"Wait Chuck. You know what it's like to be forced into this life. I haven't had much of a choice in all of this. Please Chuck, give me a chance to redeem myself." Jill pleaded.

"Really Jill. You know what they say. Fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me. You made your decision, now it's time to deal with the consequences," Chuck said as he was the final member of the team to exit the room.

Jill knew that it was a Hail Mary attempt, but she figured there was no harm in trying. She was now left to reflect on everything that had happened. She came to realize that time and time again she had underestimated what Chuck was capable of. She also misjudged the strength of his relationship with one Sarah Walker. It was a relationship where they were stronger together, and though each of their pasts would make one think their relationship would be easily broken, that had not been the case. Jill reflected back on everything that she had seen and read about their relationship. They always seemed to be able to conquer what whatever hurdle was put in front of them, and their love for each other was clearly unflappable. Jill knew it was a type of relationship she would never know, and now the only relationship she would ever have was one with her own thoughts.

Morgan, Chuck, and Sarah joined the rest of the team in the main conference room. "You guys have fun playing cat and mouse with Roberts?" Casey asked.

"Always fun to mess with the bad guys," Morgan responded.

"Well, now that you're done having fun, what do you say we take the fight to Smith and end this once and for all?" Casey inquired.

Sarah looked over and realized that Chuck looked nervous.

"Chuck, what's wrong?" Sarah asked.

"If my plan doesn't work today we all pay the price. If this doesn't work we'll have to go into hiding for the rest of our lives," Chuck responded.

Before Sarah could answer her Casey let out a loud grunt and the entire team looked over at him.

"Hey moron. We're all here, aren't we? This is the best damn spy team that I have ever had the honor of working with and this mission is no different. No matter the outcome, this was and is still our best play. Now that we have all our lady feelings out of the way, let's go put the screws to Smith," Casey said emphatically.

The team all let out a little laugh at this last comment. It was time to end this and they were all ready.

* * *

Smith looked at the tablet in front of him. It was everything they had been working for since the creation of the Intersect. It was in his hands and no matter the price they paid, it was worth it. "We've arrived sir," the driver stated.

This pulled Smith from his thoughts as he exited from the car. He had arrived at their Montana facility. "No one is to interrupt me while I set up our back door access to the Intersect project," Smith ordered as he rushed towards his office. As Smith entered his office, he quickly plugged the tablet in for a quick scan. He knew Chuck didn't have much time with either the tablet or the intel, but he wasn't about to take any chances this close to his goal. Smith then approached his computer to get in contact with his leaders.

 **Mission complete. Casualties sustained and assets burned.** Smith typed **.**

 **Causalities were expected. This Intel was worth it. When will the Intel be loaded into the system? How was the asset burned so quickly?** Was the response Smith received.

 **Intel will be loaded within the hour. Running security scan now. Sarah Walker was eliminated by our sniper. Obviously caused the loss of Bartowski and the rest of his team. Will have to clean up mess.** Smith replied.

 **First objective is to load Intel and verify back door access. Eliminate Team Bartowski. If possible capture Intersect. There are ways to make him bend to our will.** Appeared on the screen.

 **Understood.** Smith quickly typed as he heard the tablet beep, informing him that the security sweep was complete.

 **Expect status report within the hour. Good work Mr. Smith. Look forward to the future of our organization. Our hard work is finally going to pay off** , **mainly thanks to you.** Was the response that appeared on the screen.

Smith allowed a small smile to creep up on his face. Everything that he had strived for was within his grasp. He knew all the riches and power that awaited him. Everything that he had sacrificed, including Jill, would all be worth it when the world was forced to bow to his will. With what Team Bartowski had given him, governments would have no choice but to answer to his every whim. He looked back at his orders and focused in on the part to bring Chuck in alive. He thought back to the events that had transpired earlier in the evening. The look on Chuck's face was burnt into his mind right before he pulled the trigger ending Jill's life. _I foresee a little accident on the mission. I think Chuck has lived long enough,_ Smith thought.

Smith looked through the report on the laptop. Nothing appeared out of place, but Smith couldn't believe that Chuck hadn't done anything with this Intel, even if he only had it in his possession for roughly a half an hour or so. Suddenly, Smith noticed something odd in the code sweep. There appeared to be a back door to the primary connection point. "Nice try Mr. Bartowski, but it takes a lot more than that to fool me," Smith said as he plugged the tablet into the server.

The tablet began to load the data onto Smith's servers and he began the setup of his user interface to be able to access the Intel in real time. Smith began to see information flowing across the screen. It was more Intel then he could process with just the human eye. Secrets about everyone imaginable began to stream across the screen. Corporations, governments, and people of all kinds of influence were streaming across the screen. Smith's confidence was at an all-time high. He was imagining himself using all this Intel when his thoughts were interrupted by a loud beep.

Smith opened his eyes to see that the screen had gone completely black. He looked at the screen with confusion as he began to hit any button that he could think of. Nothing was happening and every diagnostic test that he attempted came back with no info found. Anger was beginning to set in and just as Smith was about to call for help, the entire facility went dark.

"What the hell's going on?" Smith yelled into his comms.

"…," Static was the only response that Smith received.

"Alpha team respond," Smith yelled.

"Beta team respond," Smith yelled again.

"Omega team respond damn it," Smith yelled as his anger threated to get the best of him.

"Smith," was the response he heard, but it wasn't a voice from any of his team leaders.

"Chuck, is that you?" Smith asked.

"Sorry to cut the lights on you, but you know you've taught me how important it is to always make an entrance," Chuck responded.

"How in the hell did you find me?" Smith questioned.

"You might want to check your coat," Chuck responded.

Smith quickly inspected his coat and found a tracker under his right lapel and he quietly berated himself for being so careless. He recalled his interaction with Chuck and remembered when Chuck grabbed him and threatened him.

"Ok Chuck, I have to admit you got me on that one. In all the confusion of the fire fight I forgot to sweep myself, but don't think for a second that the fact you're here changes anything. I have an army that I can bring down on you. I'm giving you one last chance to stand down and join us. If you choose to continue this course of action, then there will be consequences that you are not willing to pay," Smith answered angrily.

Just then, part of Smith's team entered in the room and took positions guarding both entrances.

Smith began to hear laughter from his comm link.

"You really think that I would join you after what you did? I told you when you killed my wife that I was going to bring a fire storm down on you that would make Hell look like a vacation spot. So now I'm going to give you a chance to rethink your stance. I'm coming in and no one on your side is going to survive this. Now ask yourself which is more important to you, your life or your power? I guarantee you're not walking out of here with both of them," Chuck threatened.

Smith weighed his options. He knew, at best, Chuck had Casey, Verbanski, and maybe Morgan Grimes. He looked around the room and he was surrounded by at least ten heavily armed and well trained soldiers. He knew Chuck was the Intersect, but he knew everything there was to know about him and the power he possessed. "Chuck…I'm right here, so come and get me," Smith replied.

"Thank you, Smith," Chuck responded.

"Thank you?" Smith questioned.

"You just gave me exactly what I wanted. Here I come Smith, and I am bringing hell with me," Chuck yelled as the comms went dead.

"Everybody cover the entrances. No one gets in here without getting a heavy dose of lead," Smith ordered.

Suddenly, with a flash, the room was filled with light and the sound of gun fire. Smith took cover and hoped that his men would do what needed to be done. As the gunfire died down, Smith got to his feet and was surprised at the sight that was laid out in front of him. His men were spread throughout the room and they were all incapacitated in some manner. Smith looked around the room and looked for any sign of Chuck and his team.

Smith quickly readied his weapon and began to sweep the room. "Alpha team report," Smith yelled in his communicator. He received no response. He looked around again and came to the realization that most of his men were in the room with him, and the rest had probably already fallen victim to Team Bartowski. He knew the only shot he had to get out of this fell squarely on his shoulders.

"Ok Chuck, you've proven your point. You're here and you hold some power. How about we call this a stalemate? You know you can't touch me, because what my bosses will do to you and your family isn't something you are willing to risk. What happened to Sarah is on you. You pushed and pushed when I told you there would be consequences. Are you really willing to risk Elle, Devon, baby Clara, or your mother Mary Bartowski? Don't forget, I know everything there is to know about you." Smith tried to continue his rant but he was interrupted by the sound of laughter. Not just any laughter, this was the laughter of a madman.

"Smith, I already told you that you will never find them," Chuck replied.

Smith turned and fired a shot towards Chuck's voice.

"Oh Smith, you were extremely cold with that shot," Chuck said with a laugh.

Smith spun around firing another shot where he thought he heard Chuck's voice.

He was about to fire again when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and was surprised to see Chuck directly in front of him. Before he could say or do anything Chuck plunged a needle into his neck.

"Goodnight Mr. Smith," Chuck said, as Smith began to slouch.

* * *

Smith was beginning to regain consciousness and he tried to move, first his arms and then his legs. He quickly discovered that he was bound. He slowly started to open his eyes and take in the scene around him. He was still in the command center of his Montana facility. He looked around taking in anything and everything when his eyes finally came to a halt and focused on the figure directly ahead of him.

Chuck Bartowski sat amongst all the carnage in the room. His eyes locked on nothing but Smith. "So glad that you could join me," Chuck commented.

"Chuck, what do you think this is going to accomplish? I'm just the voice of an organization that has more power than you can imagine," Smith replied.

"Well Smith, if my interactions with you have taught me anything, it's that power is everything. I've been a pawn for so long and I'm tired of it. I've decided that it's time for me to step out of the shadows and claim the power that I deserve. There are always going to be men like you and your bosses in the world. Why should I continue to fight and fight just to survive? Look what my reward was, you took my wife from me. When she died, so did I. This man in front of you is a new Chuck Bartowski," Chuck said, as he continued to circle Smith with a gun always pointed at his target.

"Do you think this is what Sarah would want?" Smith asked, but before Smith could get another word in Chuck cut him off.

"Don't you dare say her name. You took her from me, and now you're going to pay the price," Chuck yelled angrily as he took aim at Smith's head.

"Now hold on Chuck, what about the rest of your team? They can't want this," Smith pleaded.

"We are on board for whatever Chuck wants," Casey answered from behind Smith.

The rest of team Bartowski came up from behind Smith. "You see Smith, Chuck is right about one thing. Groups like you will always exist, so why shouldn't we get into the game? We're all tired of doing all the hard work for others and gaining no reward. So today it changes," Casey yelled with a grunt.

Smith took in his surrounding and knew that his end was near. He couldn't believe that the once great Team Bartowski had fallen so quickly. "Well, what do you need me for, because you obviously need something or I would be dead already?" Smith questioned.

"Well you see Smith, we need a messenger. We want you to help us announce that there is a new top dog," Chuck replied.

"And how, may I ask, am I supposed to do that?" Smith asked.

"Very easy Smith, you just sit there and smile. What we're about to do to you is going to be message enough," Casey replied.

Smith was working on his restraints hoping to find any way to break free. He had almost freed his arms when Chuck put his gun against the side of Smith's head. "What better message could we deliver than your body spread all over the room," Chuck added to the conversation.

Before Chuck could do anything, Smith swiftly head butted Chuck and relieved him of his weapon. Smith quickly put two into Casey and then followed it up with two into Chuck. He checked them both for a pulse and was pleased that it was nowhere to be found on either of them. He didn't have time to take pleasure in his grabbing victory from the jaws of defeat. He laughed that even in the end, he was able to take down the mighty Intersect. Smith grabbed his tablet and typed one quick message into his computer.

 **Montana facility infiltrated by Team Intersect. Team eliminated and intel secure. Awaiting directions.** Smith typed.

 **Good work. Unfortunate about assets, but losses happen. Intel most important. Take intel to D.C. facility and load on network asap. Congratulations** , **you will be rewarded for your loyalty and flawless record.**

Smith smiled and turned just in time to catch a heel to his face. What he saw next confused him and made him second guess everything that had just unfolded. Before he blacked out he swore he saw one Sarah Bartowski.

* * *

"Smith, we need to stop meeting like this," Chuck joked.

Smith was slowly regaining consciousness….again, but he swore he heard Chuck's voice. Combined with the fact that he knew he had seen Sarah right before he blacked out, Smith was feeling just slightly confused.

"Ok, so let me get this straight, you and Casey aren't dead, and I'm pretty sure the ghost of your wife kicked me in the head just a while ago," Smith said as he was finally regaining his wits.

"Ding Ding Ding. Tell this man what he won," Chuck replied.

"I would say life i cell," Casey replied.

"How is it that you two are alive?" Smith asked.

"Funny you should ask, it's my little twist on smart bullet. Same one I used on Jill," Chuck replied.

"What do you mean like the one you used on Jill? Are you telling me that she's still alive?" Smith asked.

"Yes, she's still alive. Hey, maybe one day, when you're old and grey, you can see each other again," Chuck answered.

"Chuck, do you really think that is nice to give him false hope. I mean, they'll be luck to see the light of day, let alone each other," Sarah replied as she entered the room.

"I knew that I saw you. Ok, now that we have all the pleasantries out of the way, mind explaining the who, what, when, where, and how?" Smith asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Sure why not, it's going to take a few minutes to finish cleaning up all of this and it's not like you are going anywhere," Chuck replied.

Chuck then proceeded to tell Smith everything that he had previously explained to Jill. "Now for everything that transpired here. Well, I needed to be sure who you worked for. So when I visited your other facility, I planted a small virus in your system. The virus did no harm, all it did was collect data and copy it. The tablet over there held the second half of the virus. Alone they are rather harmless, but together they collect a whole lot of data in a short amount of time. I knew you would be looking for something, so I left that little hiccup in the code. That way you would miss the rest. No scan would find the virus halves because of their code design. It is rather genius, you see they act….," Chuck tried to continue but Sarah quickly cut him off.

"Sweetie, I don't think we have time for the long version," Sarah said with a smile.

"Oh yeah, you're right. Well the quick version is that, once you plugged in the tablet, all the data was transferred to it and it shut itself down. My team over there had already visited this particular facility, so we got a little lucky. When you typed the message to your leader, we were able to trace it. We were also able to detect that the computer had a hack into the video security feed, so when someone began to type, it opened the view on the other end. Basically creating a one-way video feed between this end and your boss. We couldn't just type the message because we would be seen, so we needed you to type it, and I had a very specific message that I wanted you to send," Chuck said with a smile.

"So why go through all the theatrics of making me think that I had killed you?" Smith asked.

"I'm so glad you asked. Now your bosses think that we're dead, and in a little bit your private plane will be intercepted on its way to D.C. All the reports will show that you were apprehended. Then, over the course of the next few days, we will start picking your organization apart. And here comes the best part. Since they think we're all dead, there will be no reason to be looking at us. They will think that you turned on them to save yourself. We will pick them all up and the ones that run will be too worried about their own necks to even think about little old me," Chuck replied.

Just as Chuck was finishing his explanation, a group of armed men walked in to take Smith away. "Chuck, I just have one last question. Where did I go wrong?" Smith asked as the men began to take him away.

"You went wrong when you tried to bring my family into this. Then you never thought that you were in danger. There is an old saying. The man that thinks he is unstoppable never sees it coming," Chuck replied.

"What doesn't he see coming?" Smith asked.

"His demise," Chuck answered as Smith exited the room.

"Well what do you say team, let's get out of this place?" Chuck asked with a smile.

"I say that's a great idea. I have a beast master and a steak with my name on it," Casey replied.

"That sounds like a date to me," Gertrude replied.

"I would say it is about time we move into that dream house you bought us," Sarah said with a smile.

The team exited the room and Chuck couldn't help but smile. He and his team, no his family, had conquered Smith and his organization and now they were all finally going to get the life they all deserved.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Thank you again for all your support in the journey of writing this story. Also a large thank you to michaelfmx for his beta services. I hope you enjoy this new chapter. Look forward to everyone's reviews and comments. I don't own Chuck or any of it characters.

* * *

The tension in Castle could be cut with a knife. Mary Bartowski wanted her family together again. She had extracted Devon, Ellie, and Clara from Chicago in case Chuck's plan hit a snag. Now they were all sitting around impatiently, waiting from any word from Chuck and his team. Ellie busied herself by cleaning anything she could find to keep her mind from assuming the worst. Devon was entertaining baby Clara while Mary paced back and forth. It wasn't like Mary to be nervous. She was a spy, one of the best, but when it was her baby boy out there fighting the good fight, she just couldn't seem to keep herself calm. She'd never wanted this for her family, but she knew when she fell for Stephen J. Bartowski this had always been a possibility. She had tried so hard to keep her family out of this world, but here they were, stuck right in the middle of it.

"Why haven't we heard anything yet?" Ellie blurted suddenly, interrupting Mary's train of thought.

"We'll hear something soon. Nothing is going to stop your brother from completing this mission, Ellie," Mary responded trying to convince herself as much as much she was trying to help Ellie.

"Come on guys it really hasn't been that long. I mean they're trying to take down a rogue group that no one even knew about until now," Devin replied picking up baby Clara.

"Ya, come on guys give me a break," Chuck joked, strolling down Castle's stairs.

"Chuck!" Ellie yelled, rushing towards her little brother.

Ellie wrapped Chuck into a death grip that vaguely resembled a hug. It had been amazing to get their parents back in one way or another during the past couple of years. Yet with everything they had been through, the bond between the two siblings was stronger than most. They had been each other's protectors, shoulder to cry on, rock, and whatever else they needed. Now was not just a celebration of surviving another mission, but a celebration of surviving everything.

"Starting to feel a little left out over here," Morgan whined, clearing his throat.

"Oh…Hi Morgan. Just happy to see that my baby brother is home safe," Ellie chuckled as she wiped a tear from her cheek.

Ellie looked up the stairs to see the rest of the team filing into Castle. She watched as Chuck left her side and approached their mother and wrapped her in a large embrace. He didn't say a word, just held her close, using the embrace to convey all of the respect, love and admiration he had for his mother. As Ellie looked around the room, she realized that she was proud to call everyone in this room family. It had taken them a long time to get to this point, but they had earned it and now, hopefully, they would finally be able to enjoy it.

"I suppose it's safe to say that the mission went well…I mean all of you are here?" Ellie questioned.

"That it did," Chuck responded.

"We were able to get Smith to do everything that we needed him to do, and now his entire organization thinks we're dead. So I guess all we have to do now is sit back and watch while the CIA and NSA round them all up," Chuck replied with his famous Bartowski grin.

"So what now?" Ellie asked.

"Well, I guess now we can celebrate down here for the evening while we wait. We need to make sure that most of Smith's organization is out of commission before risk coming out of hiding," Sarah replied.

The rest of the evening was spent in an atmosphere full of love, laughter, and relief. Their latest and most dangerous foe had been defeated. There was always going to be some new threat out there, and heck the odds were pretty good that a new one would appear sooner rather than later, but right now no one cared. They had earned the right to celebrate and just enjoy each other's company.

"I want to take this time to thank everyone in the room. Tonight's success wouldn't have been possible without you. We are here able to celebrate, because of all of you. I'm lucky to be able to call you my team, but more importantly, I am blessed to call you my family," Chuck toasted.

"I'll toast to that," Sarah said, raising her glass.

The rest of the evening was a blur. As the last of the team members went to bed, only Chuck and Sarah were left in the main conference room.

"Well Mrs. Bartowski, I would say that was a pretty successful mission if I do say so myself," Chuck boasted.

"I hate to say it, but I'm inclined to agree with you," Sarah replied, wrapping her arms around Chuck's neck.

"You hate to say it? What's that supposed to mean?" Chuck asked with a slightly baffled expression.

"Well you know. I go saying how great of a plan it was, and how great our team leader was, then the next thing you know his head is so big It won't even fit through the door," Sarah joked.

"Real funny," Chuck snorted, planting a gentle kiss on Sarah's lips.

"You know, tonight's mission went well, but we do still have a few loose ends to tie up," Sarah replied as she pressed her forehead to his.

"I know, and one of them is still in a holding cell," Chuck said as he looked at the monitor showing Jill Roberts sleeping in her cell.

"I'll tell you what. Let's say that tonight there's no spy life, no mission talk, and especially no Jill talk. Tonight is just a husband and wife enjoying each other's company. What do you say?" Sarah inquired before planting a passionate kiss on her husband.

"I say a few more kisses like that and you have a deal," Chuck grinned.

"I think that can be arranged," Sarah said, taking Chuck's hand in hers leading him towards their bunk for the evening.

Right now they deserved to rest. The loose ends of the mission could wait. Tonight was all about family.

* * *

Sarah awoke in a cold sweat. She sat up and looked over at Chuck still in a deep sleep. She'd had _the_ nightmare again. The one where she was holding Ellie at gunpoint and pulled the trigger. She would then have to look on in horror as she witnessed the fall out of her actions. She saw Devon and Clara in tears, Chuck walking away from here, and her entire world crumbling around her. Sarah got out of bed and headed to the gym. A good workout always seemed to alleviate the stress from these nightmares.

Sarah walked into the gym and wasn't really surprised to see Devon wrapping up his workout.

"Hey there sis. Coming in to work off the party?" Devon joked.

"Something like that," Sarah replied.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Devon asked, his playful smile fading.

"Nothing," Sarah answered defensively.

"Come on Sarah. You hardly talked to us last night, and I see it on your face every time you look at us," Devon responded.

"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked as she approached the punching bag.

"Guilt. It's all over your face. Look, I am no expert in all of this, but I don't see what there is to feel guilty about," Devon said.

"But I pointed a gun at your wife. I was willing to do whatever it took to get what I needed. How can you just look at me like nothing happened? And don't tell me it's what family does. I know family forgives, but how am I supposed to live with what I did to her?" Sarah asked as she began to strike the bag.

"I can't tell you how to do that, but what I can tell you is that I hold no ill will towards you. Sarah, I know that you would do anything to protect my family. The spy world is messy and full of gray areas. The only thing I know is that I can count on you and Chuck, and I hope you know that you can always count on Ellie and me," Devon finished with a look of concern on his face.

"I know I can count on you Devon, but how do I look at Ellie in the eye when she is standing there with you and Clara, knowing that I could have taken it all away. With one pull of the trigger I could have ended it all," Sarah responded, now clearly getting emotional.

"And what stopped you?" Devon asked.

"Ellie wrecked her car," Sarah responded.

"Why did she do that?"

"To protect Chuck."

"There it is. Ellie will do anything to protect Chuck. Those two have a unique relationship. "They've had only each other for most of their lives," Devon said before Sarah interrupted him.

"How am I supposed to compete with that? I love Chuck and I love Ellie, but what I did put both of them in danger. I know I didn't remember anything, but that doesn't change what I did. I'm so confused. I know they've forgiven me, but I'm not sure I can ever forgive myself," Sarah pleaded, begging Devon for an answer as her strikes grew more intense on the bag in front of her.

"Sarah, Chuck and Ellie have been the only family the other has known for a long time. We were lucky enough to be invited in. You need to talk to Ellie and clear the air between you. I forgive you and not because it's what family does, but because I know that it wasn't you that took Ellie. I have watched you change over the years. I think back to when you and Chuck were just a cover. Honestly, I think the only people that didn't see the truth were the two of you. I watched you hide in your shell and I saw Chuck slowly bring you out of it. I also saw you do the same thing for Chuck. Together you were better, and that got lost for a bit. Now you're back. You are the Sarah that we all know and love. Talk to Ellie, Sarah," Devon said as he (turned around to walk out of the gym.

Sarah stopped her attack on the helpless punching bag. Now with nothing left to take out her frustration on she was forced to confront the struggle with in her. The one that had been going on since the day she met Chuck. It was the battle between Agent Walker and Sarah. The battle had taken its toll over the years but Sarah had finally won that fateful day on the floor in Chuck's apartment. Agent Walker tried one final time to stop her, but Sarah triumphed with one little word, "Yes." That was how she finally told Chuck how she felt. That one little word started this amazing journey she was on. Then Quinn decided to derail it and everything she had grown to hold dear. She pressed her head against the bag, trying not only to regain her breath, but also to calm her thoughts. She fought back tears as everything that she and Devon had talked about ran through her head. Devon started to leave, but Sarah stopped him.

"I've never felt like I deserve any of this," Sarah said, fighting back the tears.

"What are you talking about?" Devon asked quietly.

"I was a con woman, then a spy. I've hurt people. I met you guys and that all changed. My priorities and entire outlook on life changed. Chuck made me feel again. When Quinn wiped my memory, I went right back to a cold, calculating spy. All my feelings were locked away again. I remember everything now, but that is still a part of me. It probably always will be. How can I still have that inside of me after everything we have been through as a family?' Sarah asked. The dam finally broke and the tears ran down her face as she buried it in the punching bag.

Devon didn't say a word, he just approached his sister-in-law and embraced her in a hug. "I don't think you give yourself enough credit Sarah. Those feeling you talk about, they never left, and they were what brought you back to us. Chuck told Ellie and me about the night in the house. The feelings you had for him at that moment are what saved you. The feelings you have for this family are what makes you…you now. Don't forget that part of it. Quit focusing on the bad and remember why you are here now. You took a chance on those feelings and look at what you have." Devon said as he let go of Sarah and started to exit the gym.

Sarah thought about what Devon had said, long after he left. It wasn't going to be easy, but it was time to have a conversation with Ellie. They had talked a little when she had come to ask for help regaining her memories, but the talk they needed to have now was going to be the tough one. Sarah decided to finish her workout and then try to put all of this behind her and put her family back together again.

* * *

Chuck stared at the monitor as Beckman's team escorted Jill from Castle. She was the final piece of the puzzle as most of Smith's organization was now in custody. There was a point in his life that he when he had thought Jill was the woman he would spend the rest of his life with. Now she was being taken away in chains. As Chuck watched the scene unfold in front of him, he wondered if Jill ever truly loved him, or if he was just convenient. He tore his gaze away from the monitor and glanced around the room, his eyes falling on the very person he was looking for. His eyes locked with Sarah's and they both shared a quick smile. In that moment his past and future lined up. He saw what he could have had being escorted away, and what he was so grateful to have right in front of him. All he could do was smile.

"What're you doing?" Morgan asked.

"Just taking inventory of everything," Chuck responded with a grin.

"Funny you should say that. I've been thinking about a lot of things lately. This whole thing with Smith has put some stuff in perspective for me. Can I ask you a question Chuck?"

"Sure buddy. You can ask me anything," Chuck responded.

"When did you know that you were ready to ask Sarah to marry you?" Morgan asked.

Chuck gave him a questioning look. "Morgan, are you thinking about asking Alex to marry you?"

"No! No.… what makes you say that? I just asked a friend when he was ready to get married and it somehow turns into me getting married. Geez, Chuck. I mean…. what do you think she would say?" Morgan mumbled nervously.

"I think you need to worry more about what Casey might say," Chuck joked.

"Oh sure… I hadn't even thought about that part," Morgan replied.

"Morgan, I think if you love Alex, then that is all that matters. And I am pretty sure Casey likes you more than he lets on," Chuck responded.

"What are you two ladies talking about?" Casey asked, lumbering into the room.

"Oh us…. nothing here…. I mean nothing important," Morgan stammered out.

Casey just gave them a look grunted as he left the room.

"Well, that was close," Morgan gulped.

"I guess you have some work to do there bud," Chuck said as he gave Morgan a pat on the shoulder and left to join his wife.

Chuck walked up to Sarah and took her in his arms. "Hey babe, ready to blow this popsicle stand?" Chuck said with a laugh.

"I'd say we are overdue for some fresh air," Sarah responded. She looked over at Ellie and Devon as they packed their things.

"Have you had a chance to talk to her yet?" Chuck asked.

"No, I haven't been able to," Sarah responded hesitantly. "I…..I can't quite find the courage to start the conversation, Chuck. I'm…..I'm scared."

"Sarah, it'll be ok. You just need to talk to her so you can both put this behind you. You are the bravest woman I've ever met, and I know you can get through this."

"I know, it's just hard for me to forgive myself for what I did," Sarah admitted.

"Talking to her would be a good start," Chuck responded nodding his head towards his sister.

Sarah removed herself from Chuck's arms and approached Ellie.

"Hey Ellie, can we talk for a minute?" Sarah asked.

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?" Ellie responded.

"Care if we go somewhere more private?"

"Sure.,"

Chuck watched as two of the strongest, most amazing and most important woman he had ever had the privilege of knowing walked away together. He hoped they could find a way to put the incident behind them, because it was time for his family to find peace and happiness again.

* * *

Ellie followed Sarah out of the main conference room in Castle. She wasn't really sure what this was all about, but if she had to guess it had something to do with the tension that seemed to be hovering between them. Ellie knew that when she helped Sarah with her memories, they had begun to repair their relationship, but there was still work to be done. Sarah led the way into one of the holding cells and Ellie followed behind.

Once they were alone, Ellie asked, "Ok Sarah. What do we need to talk about?"

"Ellie, I've been having nightmares. Actually, it's the same one, over and over again. It goes back to before I recovered my memories. In these dreams, I don't stop and I don't quit. In these dreams I pull the trigger. I either kill you or Chuck. Then I live with the fall out of these horrible acts. Ellie, I know what you're going to say. Family forgives, and trust me I understand that, but it doesn't change what I almost did and I can't imagine my life without my family. What I can't do is forgive myself. I can't forgive what I almost took from the people most important to me, and what I almost took from myself. I know we can't just instantly go back to the way things were before all of this, but I want to know what I can do to start fixing this," Sarah said, with tears now easily visible making their way down her cheeks.

"Sarah, there is something I need to get off my chest as well. After I crashed the van there was a split second when I thought about giving up on you. It was only a thought, but for a quick moment I wanted Chuck to walk away. Then I saw Chuck pleading with me and I remembered how good you two were for each other, and that if anyone could bring you back it was him. He told me that your memories were in there somewhere, and that he wasn't going to stop fighting for you. He was right. I was too quick to protect Chuck and not you. I think I had protected Chuck for so long that I didn't know how to do anything else. When our parents left, Chuck was all I had. Even after finding out Chuck was a spy and seeing him in action, I couldn't let go. I continually tried to protect him. What I didn't realize is that when he found you, he had a new protector. I never gave you the credit you were due, and in that one moment I almost sacrificed it all" Ellie responded.

Ellie and Sarah just looked at each other, neither one was sure where to take the conversation from there. Finally, Sarah broke the silence. "Ellie, I will always protect Chuck. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me."

"Sarah, I hope you know that I do forgive you for what happened. No matter what you say, I don't believe that it was really you pointing that gun at me. You didn't pull the trigger. And I don't believe that you ever would have. Maybe instead of focusing on what could have happened, we should focus on what did happen. You didn't pull the trigger and we are both still here to fix this. So what do you say we forgive each other and work together to rebuild our relationship?" Ellie asked.

"I would say it's a start," Sarah said with a smile.

The two ladies hugged one another making a silent agreement to work on their relationship. Not for Chuck or for Devon, but for themselves. To fix it because it was what they both wanted. It wasn't going to happen overnight, but if anyone could make it happen, it was them.

Sarah pulled back from their hug and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I am I'm going to have to watch myself when I talk to my in-laws," Sarah joked.

"In-laws?" Ellie questioned, her curiosity peaked.

"Yeah, Devon caught me this morning trying to work off one of those nightmares I was talking about. He had some pretty good advice for me," Sarah replied.

"I have to know what my awesome husband did now," Ellie pleaded.

"He reminded me that the feelings and memories that I had made during my time in Burbank never really left me. He made me realize that those feelings are the reason we are all here together. You Bartowskis rubbed off on me more than I ever realized," Sarah joked.

Ellie had to admit she was proud of her husband. He sometimes was a little late to the emotional party, but when he arrived he usually did it with a bang. "Well, I think that sounds like pretty good advice," Ellie quipped, brushing away a tear.

The two ladies shared another hug. This hug was different, it was laced with the promise that someday very soon they would be a family again. They both stepped back and gave each other a quick smile and turned to rejoin the rest of the gang.

* * *

Life in Burbank was finally getting back to normal. Mary Bartowski was in the process of escorting her daughter and her family back to Chicago while the rest of Team Bartowski cleaned up Castle. Morgan was trying to gain the backbone to ask Casey a very important question.

"Hey Casey, do you have a sec?" Morgan asked.

"What? Got your panties in a bunch again?" Casey grunted.

"Casey, this whole Smith thing has gotten me thinking. I love Alex, and nothing is more important to me than her happiness. I know you haven't always approved of our relationship, but I want to ask…. for your permission to marry her," Morgan quickly blurted out.

Casey just looked at the little man in front of him and smirked. The spine Morgan had grown over the years was rather impressive. Casey extended his hand towards Morgan and held it there. Morgan just looked down, not quite sure what was happening. Was it really just a simple handshake, or was it going to turn into a death move of some kind? Morgan slowly put his hand in Casey's and was pleasantly surprised when Casey gave it a simple shake.

"Thank you for asking Morgan. You are a little bit less annoying than you used to be, and if you were brave enough to ask me that question, then I guess its ok with me," Casey commented.

"Thank you Casey, and I promise you I will always take care of her," Morgan replied.

"That goes without saying, because you know that I can kill a man more ways than I can count, and I guarantee you they would never find your body. So you better never hurt her," Casey said as he walked away.

Chuck and Sarah watched as the scene unfolded in front of them.

"Well, I guess we have another wedding to go to now," Sarah said with a chuckle.

"That should be fun," Chuck joked.

Chuck wrapped Sarah in his arms and gave her a kiss. Things were finally starting to go right for Team Bartowski and the life they had always wanted was going to be theirs for the taking.


	19. Chapter 19

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read and review my story. It has been an amazing journey and it is coming to an end. Can't thank you enough for all your support. Getting reviews is what makes it all worth while. Thank you again to michaelfmx for all his help couldn't do it without him. I don't own chuck or any of its characters.

* * *

A black SUV circled the parking lot, finally backing into a very specific spot. As it sat there, the world continued to pass by. The woman inside just watched as a couple walked their dog, a green car drove by, as a shouting match ensued in the apartment across the way. This was a normal occurrence for her, taking in everything that happened around her, always on alert and always ready to strike. She watched as these people lived their lives, but one thing she didn't know was what it was like to be them. What it was like to be so involved in your own life that you had no clue what was going on around you. She couldn't afford that luxury, not in her line of work. She had made a choice many years ago to sacrifice all the simple pleasures and put the greater good ahead of her own. A little part of her wondered what it would be like to be like them, and honestly the thought made her a little jealous. What would her life be like now if she hadn't made that choice all those years ago? Yes, she had something that resembled a relationship with Roan Montgomery, but it wasn't what other people had.

She sat in a parking lot in Burbank, California and couldn't stop a little smirk from spreading across her face. She was waiting to meet the most unlikely spy in history. She thought back to when Chuck had first received the Intersect. That had been the worst day of her career. At the time, she had thought it was a complete disaster. How could all of the Government's most precious intel end up with someone like Chuck Bartowski? But now he was the best feather in her cap. It hadn't been a smooth ride by any means, and there were times when she'd thought for sure the powers that be were going to shut them down. Despite all that had been stacked against them, her team had managed to put together a rather impressive resume.

When she reflected back on all that they had accomplished, the part that always baffled her was the effect Chuck had on all of them. He took the two toughest, strongest, most stubborn and by the book agents and turned them upside down. Heck, he did it without them even realizing what was happening to them. He had even gotten to Beckman herself over the years. She would never quite understand how it all happened, but the results were pretty obvious. She was brought out of her thoughts by a tap on the window. _He is getting better at this spy stuff_ , she thought. She unlocked the doors and motioned for him to join her.

"Hello General," Chuck greeted her with a smile.

"Hello Chuck."

"How's Operation bag'em and tag'em going?" Chuck asked.

Beckman just rolled her eyes at the awful joke. He never failed to put his own spin on the spy world. "It's going well. From the intel you were able to obtain, we have been able to apprehend most of the organization. There are a few stragglers, but they are on the lamb and completely cut off. Don't see them lasting too long on their own. I have to admit Chuck, I wasn't even sure that your team could pull this off. Smith's organization made the Ring and Fulcrum look like child's play. I tip my hat to you," the General responded.

"Well, thanks General, but it was definitely a team effort. I wasn't sure we would make it out all in one piece, but here we are," Chuck joked.

"Are you set on putting this world behind you?" she asked.

"It's time. Casey has Verbanski to think about, Morgan has Alex, and Sarah and I are ready to start a family. It just feels right. What's next for you?" Chuck asked.

"Back to the grind Chuck. Someone has to save the world," Beckman said with a slight smirk.

Chuck looked at the General. He wanted to breach the subject of the kill order, but a part of him wanted to let sleeping dogs lie. He knew what her answer would be. She would give some speech about the greater good and sacrificing the few for the many, but even then, hadn't he done enough to deserve better than that? Hadn't he proven himself to be more than just a piece of equipment that could be discarded in a seconds notice? No, Chuck thought it might be better to keep what little relationship he had with the General intact. He wouldn't classify them as friends, but he thought they had at least grown to respect one another? This internal struggle was raging on when Chuck finally decided it was time to see where the chips fell on this subject. To once and for all know where the General stood on him and his team. As Chuck's nerves began to fester he finally just blurted out the million-dollar question. "General there's something I have to ask you. I need to know something and I need you to be honest with me. Did you place a kill order on me?" Chuck asked with in trepidation in his voice.

The General let out a sigh. She'd wondered if that order would ever come back to roost. It wasn't the order itself that bothered her, it was the fact that she had misjudged the situation so badly from the very beginning. She had never allowed herself to see Chuck as more than the Intersect. Hell, it started on the first night when he went running into the ballroom and diffused a bomb. He hadn't had the Intersect for more than a few days and he was running straight into the face of danger. Chuck wasn't your typical spy, he wore his heart on his sleeve and cared about everyone. Sometimes he was a little too eager to trust, but that trust allowed him to succeed where so many had failed in before him. He always carried the weight of the world on his shoulders without the luxury of training, but he did it anyway.

"Chuck, I'm not going to lie to you. Yes, Graham and I placed that order but….," Was all she got out before Chuck interrupted.

"How could you place that order General? Damn it, I had done nothing wrong, and around every turn I had showed you that I could be trusted. Time and time again I showed you that the intel would never be in compromised. What more could I have sacrificed for you to get it through that damn head of yours that I would do whatever it took to get the job done? Instead of trusting me, you were going to kill me? You should have trusted me. You should of thought better of me. Now you hide behind your fancy stars and pawn it off as it was something for the greater good. You had options. You could have kept someone with me, or heck even just locked me in a bunker. Even that would have been better than ordering Casey to kill me….," Chuck ranted on.

"CHUCK," the General yelled, allowing a second for Chuck to calm down and for his mouth to come to a complete stop.

"Now Chuck, if you will let me finish I'll explain myself. Chuck, we placed that order in a moment of weakness. I'll admit that the greatest mistake I made in my career was not that order, but the fact that I underestimated you from the very beginning. I could never see past the nerd persona. You never ran from dangerous situations, in fact, more often than not you ran headfirst into them. We tried to keep you out of danger, yet time and time again you put yourself in harm's way to accomplish the mission or to save your team. I won't apologize for the order. I will admit it was the wrong order, but that is part of being a leader. You make the call at the time and you have to stand by it. The day the Intersect was sent to you was the worst day of my career," The General stated as Chuck tried to chime in. She just gave him a glare that told him to hold his tongue.

"Operation Bartowski was a success, and do you know why? It wasn't because of the best NSA agent, or the top CIA agent. It was the nerdy normal guy that took them and turned them into a family. You flipped the spy world on its head. What started out as the worst thing to happen to me turned into one of the best, and it was you. Casey and Sarah were good before you, but becoming a team is what made them great. You gave them something to care about and something to fight for again. They had fought the good fight so long that they forgot what they were even fighting for. You reminded them of that, and you reminded me as well," The General looked at Chuck as he processed everything she had just said.

"I'm not sure what to say. I admit I was expecting more of an apologetic tone. I mean, you did order my execution and it's all ok because I was a nice feather in your cap," Chuck snapped back.

"I want you to think about something Chuck. You and I are sitting alone in a parking lot right now. You are free to go whenever you want. How do you think that is possible?" She asked.

Chuck gave her a puzzled look, not sure what point the General was trying to make.

"What do you think the Government would do if they knew you had the Intersect in that pretty little brain of yours? Do you really think that you and Sarah would stand a chance? You guys are good, but no one is good enough to hide from the entire weight of the United States of America. As far as the intelligence world is concerned, you're a normal guy again. You are free to live out your dreams, and I want that for you. I want that for Sarah. Both of you have earned that and so much more. I will do everything in my power to ensure that you have that opportunity. I made the choice a long time ago to put the greater good ahead of my own happiness, and now I'm willing to sacrifice the greater good for my team. You are one of the most powerful weapons this world has ever known, and I trust you to walk into the sunset and start a life. I trust you enough to know that you will do the right thing and that you will take care of your team and your family. What can I say Chuck, you rubbed off on me," She said with a smile.

Chuck sat in silence, thinking about everything that he had just heard. Yes, it wasn't the apology he was hoping for, but coming from the General, it was the closest thing he had ever heard to her admitting she was part of the family. She was right. She could have very easily forced him and the team back into the spy world, but she was graciously allowing them to bow out. It was a luxury that most spies weren't afforded. Most either ended up as a star on a wall or a broken shell sitting in a room, forgotten. He was thankful for this and he was ready to start his life, and having a high ranking government official on your side never hurt.

"Didn't see this conversation going that way, but I love you too General," Chuck replied.

"Now Chuck, I didn't say anything of the sort," she quickly responded.

"Ok, whatever you say General. I'm going to get home to the family, but don't forget I'm a phone call away if you ever need me," Chuck joked as he opened the door.

"Hey Chuck, thanks for the ride. I'll always have your back. Now get out of my car Bartowski," the General joked.

Chuck smiled and slowly closed the door. He knew that General Diane Beckman would always be an honorary member of the family. He disappeared into the dark to head home to the most important people in his life.

* * *

Chuck and Sarah were pacing in their living room. The tension was killing them. They couldn't even bare to speak. All they could do was wait….and wait….and wait. When, finally, their thoughts were interrupted by the loud crashing as the front door violently swung open. The moment of truth was upon them, and all they could hope was that their training had prepared them for this moment.

"She said yes!" Morgan yelled.

"Congrats buddy," Chuck responded, as he gave Morgan a gigantic hug.

"I have to admit, I was worried that this was a little too soon. The way I broke up with her when my brain was fried by the Intersect, I thought she might turn me down, but she said yes. Man, I'm so happy right now," Morgan answered.

"Hey Morgan, where's Alex?" Sarah asked.

Morgan's eyes began to bulge out of his head. "Oh my gosh. I got so excited that she said yes that I wanted to tell someone, so I rushed right over. I have to go," Morgan yelled, as the door closed behind him.

Chuck and Sarah couldn't help but laugh. That was classic Morgan. Flying by the seat of his pants, never quite sure what was going on, but a part of the family nonetheless.

As their laughter subsided, they looked around the apartment. It was full of boxes, packing material, and empty space. They were both excited to start their new life in their dream home, but they had to admit this was a little harder than they had expected.

"Wow…. hard to believe this is our last night in the old apartment," Chuck joked.

"I know. So much has happened here over the years. This is the first place that ever felt like home," Sarah replied.

"I hope you know, Sarah, that wherever you are, that is my home," Chuck quickly replied, closing the distance between them.

"Hey, didn't you steal that from me? I think I told you that you were my home a long time ago," Sarah quickly responded taking Chuck's hands in her own.

"You know, they say plagiarism is the highest form of flattery," Chuck commented as he moved even closer, eliminating any empty space between them.

"Well let's see what flattery gets you Mr. Bartowski. I say we send the old place off with a bang," Sarah joked, giving Chuck a seductive grin.

"Why I say that is the best idea you have had today Mrs. Bartowski," Chuck quickly scooped Sarah in his arms and carried her back towards their room. Tonight was going to be a celebration of everything that that accomplished to be in this very moment. Every high and every low. All of those moments led to right now. They were both finally going to get the life they deserved. Together they were whole and now with everything behind them they could focus on the only thing that truly mattered their life together.

* * *

Sarah followed the movers to the truck as they were loading the last few odd and ends from the apartment. Chuck just watched as his days at Echo Park came to a close. He thought back to how he was all those years ago. He was lost at sea just trying to tread water. Then, life threw him a life preserver in the form of Sarah Walker. She showed him that he could be so much more than just the nerd at the Buy More. He still had to pinch himself from time to time. He couldn't believe this was all real. It seemed like yesterday that he was singing about Vicky Vale as Sarah approached his desk. If you had told him then what would transpire over the next few years, he would have said you were nuts, but he had grown up and was now married to the most amazing woman in the world. Chuck was brought out of this train of thought by what appeared to be the sound of a crying baby. He turned around to discover Morgan trying to fight back tears.

"Man, it's just so hard to believe that you guys won't be right next door anymore," Morgan belted out between sobs.

"Hey buddy, it's going to be fine. We'll see each other all the time at work, and we can still have game night once a week, and hey who would of thought that game night would have ever included two amazing women," Chuck joked.

"What's this I hear about amazing women?" Alex joked as she and Sarah came up from the street.

"Oh, just Morgan and I talking about how lucky we are," Chuck responded.

"You two better believe it," Sarah replied with a megawatt smile.

The four exchanged stories, laughs, and even a few tears. "This is crazy. Why are we crying? We're still going to see each other all the time," Chuck exclaimed.

"You're right. I just guess that growing up is trickier than I thought. Here we are one of us married, one of us engaged to be married. Now there's a sentence we thought we would never get to say. I guess it will just be weird not having you right next door with a Morgan door for quick access, but hey, I think we've done pretty well for ourselves and it's time to celebrate. You two go get your stuff in your house, and we'll see you guys at dinner tonight with everyone," Morgan said as he pushed Chuck and Sarah towards their car.

* * *

The evening was coming to a close and Team Bartowski was closing down the bar. Everyone had given Alex plenty of grief for agreeing to marry Morgan. Casey even joked to make sure she was of sound mind and that he could make Morgan disappear. Everyone got a nice laugh, but they all new that deep down, Casey was happy for his daughter and her moron. As the table became void of its occupants, the only two remaining patrons were John Casey and Chuck Bartowski.

"Well John, ready for Morgan to be your son-in-law?" Chuck joked.

"Hey, let's not push that too hard yet. Give me some time to digest that little bit of information before you start forcing it down my throat," Casey responded as he took a rather large sip of his Johnny Walker.

The two men sat in silence for a moment, just processing the evening's festivities. "So Casey, what's in your future?" Chuck asked.

"I figure you and Walker could use a hand getting this business off the ground. Gertrude has been cleared from the Decker fiasco, so she is planning on sticking around. Besides, somebody has to keep Morgan in line," Casey replied.

Chuck had to admit he was a little surprised Casey was going to hang around. He pictured John and Gertrude off breaking necks somewhere together, or whatever it was these two found to be romantic. "We would be lucky to have you. The mighty John Casey is finally going to retire. Never thought I would see the day," Chuck commented as he finished of his drink.

"Retire is a strong word Bartowski. With you and Walker…. I mean Sarah... who's to say what's waiting around the corner? Besides, it'll be fun to watch Sarah having to chase some little nerds around the house?" Casey stood up from his seat and looked down at Chuck. He was proud to call this man a friend.

"Well, before you get all emotional on me, I think I am going to call it a night. See you at work," Casey said as he left the table.

"Hey, Casey. Thanks again for everything," Chuck responded.

The men exchanged a quick glance showing a mutual respect that had grown over the years. It wasn't always easy, but they had both come to count on and trust each other. Casey let out his patented grunt and walked out. Chuck sat alone at the table thinking about the future when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"What you doing?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, just lost in thought," Chuck replied.

"God help me, we could be here all night if you are thinking," Sarah joked.

"Ha ha, very funny. Just thinking about where we go from here. Kind of scary when you think about it. The spy world has been such a major part of our lives over the past five years. Are we really ready to walk away from it? I mean I know I want to, but are we really ready to handle it?" Chuck asked.

"I think as long as we're together, we can handle whatever the world throws at us. Spy life or not," Sarah responded pulling Chuck up from his seat and leading him out of the restaurant.

Chuck thought about what she said and she was right. Together they could accomplish whatever life threw at them, and the next chapters in their lives were going to be the exciting ones, and not because of the life they lived. No, they were going to be the most exciting ones because, for the first time in a long time, they would be the ones running the show. Not the Government, or a rogue evil organization. No, it would be up to them what they did and when they did it. Chuck looked as his wife as they walked towards the car. Tonight started the rest of his life with the woman he loved, and who could really ask for anything more than that?


End file.
